And it Smells Like Coffee
by Fishelle
Summary: Coffee Shop/College AU. \\ Austin meets a nerdy girl in a cafe and makes a snap judgement about her. His girlfriend, Piper, tells him to find her and apologise. Problem is, she doesn't want his apology. / Or, Ally leaves her wallet in a cafe. An annoying boy tells her he's taken and that she's not his type. Now, he won't leave her alone. \\ Eventual Auslly.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: lol I don't own Austin and Ally and I am in no way affiliated with Disney or Disney's affiliates**

 **Word Count: 4 587**

 **A/N: Hello interwebs! I've been** _ **dying**_ **to do a coffee shop AU, but also a college AU, and even though I have several fanfictions in the process of being written, I couldn't resist starting** _ **another**_ **one. Por que no los dos? I've made this a coffee shop** _ **and**_ **a college AU! So, here goes nothing, and I hope you like it!**

The small café was filled with pleasant chatter and the smell of coffee as Austin Moon finished his last set of the day. The sounds of his acoustic guitar _plicked_ and _plucked_ softly and gently, his lips pressed against the mic as he finished the last song. His eyes were closed as he savoured the soft clapping from the patrons in the café, never tiring of the praise he received whenever he did a good job with his music. Although he was only in his third year of college, Austin was swiftly becoming well known around the neighbourhood for his frequent performances in various coffee shops and restaurants. The young man moved back slightly and murmured a 'thank you' into the microphone, before standing from the stool he had been perched upon, and turning around to start packing his things up.

Performing was something that gave Austin a rush that nothing else could. If he was completely honest with himself, performing gave him a better feeling than kissing his girlfriend did, and he certainly enjoyed kissing his girlfriend. Who _wouldn't_ enjoy kissing the brown-eyed beauty? Yet, there was something about performing, the way his fingers would dance across the fretboard, the keyboard, the keys – whatever instrument he had been graced with the ability to play – that just made him _happy_ in a way that nobody and nothing else could.

And, to top it all off, he got to be surrounded by the smell of coffee all day.

Life was pretty good for one Austin Monica Moon, and as he stepped off the stage, adjusting his beanie and the guitar strap slung around his chest, he was almost immediately swarmed by girls. These girls certainly weren't shy, and although he was flattered, he had a girlfriend and he was quite sure that he loved her. Austin smiled as he made simple small talk, and then motioned with a tilt of his head towards an empty booth. If he was going to chat with his admirers, he wanted to at least sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee. The smell had been tantalising him through his whole performance, and he was really beginning to crave it.

When Austin sat down, he was immediately pushed completely into the booth as the girls swarmed and joined him, effectively bordering him between the wall, the table, the squishy booth chair, and their bodies. At least he had had the common sense to set his guitar down before he had moved into the booth, so his precious instrument was not being crushed as he was. Instead, it was propped up against the wall, the hard case protecting it from the way one of the girls poked it with fascination. In retrospect, Austin really should have sat in one of the chairs opposite him, rather than sliding into the booth. He noticed that there was a plain black wallet on the booth beside him, squished between his hip and the girl next to him. He silently thanked whoever's wallet that was, because it prevented the girl from pressing completely into him – and she hadn't noticed the wallet, so hadn't attempted to move it. He made a mental note to take it to the counter later, to ask his friend Cassidy if she had seen who left it there.

"So, Austin," said Brooke, one of his most ardent admirers. "When and where are you next performing?"

"U-um, I don't know, Brooke," he replied, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

He hadn't thought far enough ahead to book his next gig – although, the coffee shop owner had recognised Austin's talent almost immediately and had hired him, booking him in to perform every week on a Friday evening. This was tailored both to fit Austin's busy college schedule, but also simply because the owner knew that the café was a hotspot for tired college students ready for a fun night out – and in need of caffeine for the energy they needed for their 'downtime.' Friday nights were perfect, and although Austin no longer got to do the whole 'bar scene', he didn't mind, because performing was his drug of choice and the only girl he ever wanted to lay eyes on was only a phone call or text message away at any one time.

Brooke was consistently at his performances, almost every Friday evening, and she would often swoon and praise him as soon as he stepped off of the stage. On the few times his girlfriend had been there, he had expected her to get jealous and moody because of the way Brooke stared at him, like a python ready for her next meal. However, his girlfriend was cool and confident and was not 'the jealous type' (although, he often wished she was, because just _once_ he would like the situation to be reversed where _she_ was the one getting irrationally jealous and _he_ was the one chuckling and saying 'honey, you know that I only have eyes for _you_ '). She had never gotten jealous before, simply because it was clear to see that Austin was smitten. They didn't have a lot in common, since she preferred sport and he preferred music, but they _looked_ fantastic together, and they certainly had fun, which Austin thought made up for the fact that the most intimate conversations they had ever shared were the same sort of conversations that he had shared with his best friend, Dez.

It was true that when Austin first met his girlfriend, he had been taken by her beauty, and she had thought he only liked her for her looks. He had admitted that her looks was what had originally drawn him in – but one's appearance is the first thing that will draw somebody's eye, not one's personality. It's impossible, Austin would argue, to tell what kind of personality a person has just by looking at them. He had told her that yes, he thought she was beautiful, and he wanted to get to know her to see if she had a beautiful personality to match the pretty packaging. Eventually, his charm and sincerity had won her over, despite their rocky start, and Austin was proud to call the blonde-haired, brown-eyed beauty his _girlfriend_.

Her name was Piper, and she smelled like the ocean.

A polite cough drew him out of his reverie, and he smiled sheepishly at the girl in front of him. She cocked her head expectantly, as though she had just asked him a question, and all Austin could do was stare at her with a confused expression until she repeated herself.

"I asked you how things were with you and Piper," she repeated, raising an eyebrow. There was a hungry sort of gleam in her eye, the sort that terrified Austin, and she leaned forward in anticipation. Her friends all leaned forward as well, eagerly awaiting his reply.

"Um, things are really great?" He squeaked, looking confused. "I mean, she's my girlfriend, so I guess it's inevitable that not everything is going to be _perfect,_ like, _all the time_ , but we're happy together and she's – well – she's amazing? I don't know, things are really great." He trailed off, looking scared as the whole group slumped backward in disappointment.

Brooke cleared her throat and stood, and her friends all stood with her.

"Well, Austin," Brooke said, smiling at him and waving as they began to depart. "You know what my number is if things are ever _not_ going really great." She gave him a charming smile, and if Austin wasn't so smitten with Piper, he certainly would have been calling her right away, but as it was – he was _happy_ , and while Brooke seemed like a nice girl and he agreed that they had the sort of personalities which could be compatible, he really only had eyes for Piper.

"Thanks," Austin said, waving awkwardly. "But things aren't ever going to not be really great."

Her eyes narrowed for a split second before she broke into another easy grin, although, in Austin's opinion, it did seem a tad forced. "That's a pity. You could get any girl you wanted," she told him, flipping her hair flirtatiously. Her friends had already left the store, and she was the only one who remained. "Call me if you change your mind," she added, wriggling her fingers at him in a good bye before she left the café as well, presumably to join her friends.

Austin sighed and leaned back, rubbing his eyes. He was tired, and he got up to order his coffee. Once he was seated again, the little number on the table as he waited for the drink, he pulled out his phone and scrolled mindlessly through various apps. It was annoying for him to constantly have to ask these girls to back off, and since he didn't wish to be rude, he couldn't even scream that he _adored_ Piper and that he didn't _want_ that kind of attention from them. He could only politely suggest it, but it seemed with each performance that the gaggle of girls only grew. In fact, a few of them had even isolated him – they had come into the café under the guise of only wanting coffee, made eye contact, and walked directly toward him. Later, they would flip their hair and giggle flirtatiously, claiming that they had only walked towards him because they thought he had beckoned them, so he had gotten into the habit of sitting in this booth – _his booth_ , really, since he had long ago etched his initials onto the side of the table – since he didn't have a clear view of the front door from where he sat, and he couldn't _possibly_ be mistaken for 'beckoning' them to come join him. He always sat so that he was facing the barista, because normally, Cassidy was working and she would rescue him if he looked too scared by the flirtatious women.

When Austin's coffee came, he heard the little bell jingling another customer was coming in. It was already getting late, close to the closing time – almost eight in the evening – and curiosity got the better of him. Barely anybody ever came into the café around this time, since most people were either already at the club, or out at dinner, or _something_ , and Austin had often seen the most unusual people come in at this time. Once, a cool motorcyclist with an eyepatch and a beard and a tattoo of a unicorn on their _massive_ bicep had walked into the café, and he had spent the night telling Austin all about the sort of escapades he got into when he was Austin's age. Ever since then, Austin had always made an effort to chat with the more unusual looking patrons, since they normally had an interesting story and they enjoyed the rapt attention the young man gave them. Their stories were more interesting than listening to Piper talk about her day, in any case, and even though he adored Piper and would always listen with equally rapt attention when she spoke about her day, there were only so many times that he could sit down and hear about the 'cool vegan friends' who she went shopping with that day.

The girl who walked in, however, was not unusual in any way. She had wavy brown hair, and the tips were ombré. There were glasses perched upon her face, and she clutched a large bag with the logo of the local bookstore on it. She was talking rapidly on her phone, and she walked up to the counter, momentarily pulling the phone away from her ear to chat to Cassidy. She was boring and _ordinary_ , and judging from the silhouette of multiple books in that bag, she was probably a nerd as well – she didn't seem as though she had any interesting stories to share with Austin. He sighed and stirred his coffee, gulping down the last of it before setting down the cup and wiping his mouth. When he looked up, the brunette turned around at the counter, still talking rapidly on the phone and looking around. She suddenly made eye contact with Austin, and her eyes flicked to either side of him, no doubt noting the empty seats. She hung up her phone and dropped it into her bag, before her eyes met his once more.

 _Shit_ , Austin thought, quickly glancing away, and hoping she wouldn't think that was an _invitation_. She was pretty, no doubt, but Austin was tired and not in the mood to fend off another girl trying to get into his pants.

When he glanced up again, he found that his silent wishing had failed. The girl was headed straight toward him, looking flustered, shy, and awkward.

"Uh, excuse me. Hello," she said, setting her bag down into the empty chair opposite from him, and rubbing her shoulder where the strap of her bag had clearly been digging into. "I don't mean to be rude, or anything, and I'm sorry to interrupt you, but –"

Austin held up a hand to silence her, and she immediately fell silent, looking awkward and embarrassed and incredibly shy. He almost felt bad that he had to shut her down, because none of his other admirers had ever been so polite in the lead up to asking him on a date, and although he didn't think he had ever seen her in this café before – _surely_ he would have remembered those big brown eyes? – she had probably always been watching him perform from afar. Judging from the shy way the girl held herself, it had probably taken all of her courage to come over here and ask him out. He almost felt bad that he was about to reject her, potentially ruining her self-confidence forever to the point where she would never ask out a boy _ever again_.

"Let me guess – you've seen me perform here before, and now you want to ask me out?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

The girl looked surprised, and her eyes flickered to the empty seat beside him once more, her lips jutting out the slightest in a confused pout. "Uh –"

"Look, I have a girlfriend. I don't know if you came over here because you thought I was checking you out or something, but I wasn't."

Once more, the girl simply looked surprised, and she raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" She asked, blinking rapidly and shaking her head in confusion, as though she hadn't properly processed his words.

"Well – that's why you came over here, isn't it?" Austin asked, tipping his head to the side. Judging from the way she was responding, she was nowhere near as shy as he had originally thought – perhaps she was one of those girls who used the 'cute and innocent' charm to trick unsuspecting guys into their bed. He noticed her make-up – a perfect flick of the eyeliner on the top lid, none on the bottom waterline, and a light pink lipstick. She wore very little make up, but it was clear that she had put effort into her appearance; perhaps she was attempting to impress him by being one of those girls who don't wear a lot of make-up, but are still quite pretty.

"Um. Right. Okay. So, anyway," she began, gesturing to the seat beside him, her tone soft and timid once more.

With a roll of his eyes, Austin held a hand up for silence. Man, this girl was persistent. "Look, ma'am, you're very pretty and all, but I'm a taken man! And in any case, you don't seem to be my type, anyway, so please don't bother leaving me your number 'just in case'," he said bitterly. He hated how many girls did that – they frequently gave him their number. _Just in case_ he was ever 'lonely'.

His words seemed to annoy her, however, and she cocked a hip out, her arms folded across her chest. All traces of the shy and timid girl seemed to dissipate like mist in the sunshine, and a fire began to burn in her chocolate brown eyes. "Oh? I'm not your ' _type_ '? Pray, tell me, what _is_ your type, and what is it about me that makes you so sure that I'm _not_?"

 _Yikes_.

"Uh – um –" he stuttered for a moment, before running a hand through his hair nervously. "I – well – you – you don't _seem_ like my type, I mean, but that isn't the point! The point is that I have a girlfriend, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

"No, I want to know," the girl persisted, her tone sharp. "Firstly – what makes you think I'm not your _type_? And _secondly_ , why do you believe the very _concept_ that women can be sorted into _types_?"

Austin rolled his eyes. "Everyone can be sorted into a _type_. It's generic, yeah, and each person is unique or whatever, but anybody can be sorted into a 'type'. There's not a single person in this world who doesn't share similarities with several other people."

The girl cocked her head, peering at him as she pushed her glasses back up at her nose, clearly contemplating his words. "I suppose you're right," she admitted in defeat, tapping her chin thoughtfully. She shook her head before continuing. "You didn't answer my first question. How would you know that I'm not your _type_? I could be your type. You don't even know me."

A small smirk slid onto his face, and he shook his head with a small laugh, looking up at the ceiling for patience. _Damn_ , he thought. _Per-sis-tent._ "Don't change yourself to impress a guy," he said eventually, raising an eyebrow at her and hoping that if he acted enough like a douche, she would be repelled and would leave him alone.

"I'm not – you can't just – I'm not trying to impress you!" She exclaimed, looking peeved. It seemed as though his plan was working. "You don't even know me! I don't even know _you_!"

"Please," he scoffed, beginning to feel annoyed as well. This girl seriously just _did not quit_! "You say that as if you think I've never heard that before. 'I'm not like the other girls; I'm different!'" he squeaked, imitating a girl in a high pitched voice.

The brunette stared at him. She didn't say anything for several moments. She simply scrutinised him, one hand tapping her chin thoughtfully, and the other resting on her hip. "Excuse me for making a judgement based off of your appearance, since it's really quite hypocritical of me when my very _point_ is that you can't form an opinion of someone based on appearance, but may I please have the benefit of the doubt?" As she spoke, she pulled out the chair beside her heavy bag and sat down in it, evidently under the impression that Austin wanted to continue the conversation.

"Alright, whatever, go for it," Austin drawled, when it became clear that she wasn't planning on leaving. "Tell me all about how you have me figured it out."

"Okay," she said, shrugging. "So let me just get this straight – you looked at me and decided I wasn't 'your type'. Correct?"

"Correct."

"And judging from the guitar case on the wall, and that pick necklace you've got on… You like music. Correct?"

"Correct."

"And you perform here. On a regular basis, I assume, since the barista pointed at you and said you were Austin. Yes?"

He nodded, bored. "Look, lady, I understand if you're a fan or whatever, but you're really just telling me things that all the regulars here know."

"Uh-uh, Austin," she said, shaking her head. "No interruptions. You said you'd give me the benefit of the doubt."

He sighed. "Okay, whatever. Continue, O Psychic One." He bit sarcastically.

She looked pleased with his response, and an amused smile quirked over her face – and for a moment there, she really _did_ look quite pretty, the sort of girl who _could_ be his type, but he refused to let her know that his opinion on her not being 'his type' was incorrect. It wasn't even as though he had _a type_ , as he had led her to believe. Austin had only said that to make her go away, but evidently, that hadn't worked.

"Mhm. So, as I was saying – before I was _rudely_ interrupted," she said cheekily, her glasses glinting as she leaned forward to poke him in the chest, before she leaned back to her spot. "I'm going to assume that from the way you responded to me just _walking_ in this _direction_ , and the fact that the first thing you said to me was ' _you've seen me perform here, and you want to ask me out_ ' _–_ a lot of girls practically throw themselves at you. You're used to them not even asking for your name, simply just inviting themselves to join you and probably attempt to figure out whether or not you have a girlfriend. And, since you do, you never want them to join you – unless the girlfriend you mentioned earlier isn't real, or you're an asshole."

Austin gagged and nodded, looking quite doleful. He was actually quite surprised at how perceptive the girl was – although, he supposed that was because she was a nerd. She probably majored in psychology, or something equally boring. "They always just throw themselves at me. They don't understand that I only want to be with my girlfriend."

She tapped her chin. "I bet your girlfriend is hot, blonde, and athletic. She was probably a cheerleader, most likely had decent grades since you seem to genuinely not be interested in the _slightest_ at the prospect of other girls trying to 'woo' you, so to speak."

For a moment, he was genuinely surprised. "How- _damn_ , you're good at that," he said, raising an eyebrow and shaking his head in wonderment. Perhaps his earlier decision that this girl was far too ordinary to provide him with entertainment and quirky company for the evening _was_ incredibly incorrect – she was actually quite interesting!

The girl looked slightly embarrassed and ducked her head. "It's a gift," she said shyly, before she shook her head. Her eyebrows knitted together, as though she had just remembered that she was annoyed with him. "You interrupted again!" She whined, pouting.

Austin held his hands up in surrender, and mimed zipping his mouth shut before motioning she continue.

"Alright, okay, so, let's see… You probably liked all the hot, blonde, cheerleaders back in high school. Your grades probably weren't terrible, but they weren't good either. You didn't like studying, but sometimes you would use your supposed good looks and charm and ask unsuspecting 'nerds' to help you. Most of them were too smart to fall for your tricks, but they would help you anyway and you'd end up respecting them. Am I on the right track?"

He nodded slowly. She was really beginning to scare him with how scarily accurate her assumptions of him were.

"Uh huh. So, I walk in, with my glasses and with my books, and you assume I'm a typical, boring nerd – 'not your type'. Correct?"

He nodded once more, feeling uneasy. His awkward admission made the fire in her eyes flare up momentarily, before she took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"And because I made eye contact with you and walked directly towards you, you assumed I was coming over to ask you out. You thought, 'oh _geez_ , not a _no_ ther girl that I must fight off! I have a girlfriend, dammit!' and you were absolutely certain that I came into this coffee shop to _willingly_ ask you – a random guy, that I don't even know – on a date."

"It sounds dumb when you say it like that," he mumbled.

The girl ploughed on. "You looked at my face, and decided that I put _some_ form of effort into my appearance. Because I headed towards you, clearly determined, you felt as though this only proved your hypothesis that I had come here with the sole intention of asking you out. Is all that correct? Did I get it right?"

Austin looked mildly annoyed and nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. That about sums it up."

She tapped her chin, scrutinising him thoughtfully. "Interesting."

A wave a guilt flooded him for making a rude, snap judgement about this girl, but then he felt defensive. She had done the exact same thing to him, hadn't she? He looked up at her sourly.

"Well, get off your high horse," he grumbled. "You made a snap judgement about me, too. Even though it's true doesn't mean you get to act all high and mighty. If you _really_ didn't come here to ask me out, why would you _walk in_ , make _eye contact_ with me, walk _directly_ towards me, and come up all giggly and shy and cute and stuff?"

The girl cocked her head. "Cute?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head, continuing before Austin could even begin to splutter and deny that he had just called her cute. "I came here to get my wallet," she said.

"What?" Austin looked incredibly confused, and then he suddenly remembered the plain black wallet he had been planning on taking up to Cassidy once the girls had left him. _Oops_.

"My wallet," she repeated slowly, pointing to the wallet beside him. "I came here all 'giggly and shy and cute and stuff,'" she said, mocking him in a low-pitched voice, "so that I could get my wallet back. I was embarrassed that someone had sat down beside it, and it would be awkward to lean over and just take it when you're practically _sitting_ on it. I was embarrassed because I would have to ask you to move so that I could get it," she explained, looking bored.

Austin continued to stare at her with an incredibly confused expression, making no movement to get up. He was still perplexed, reeling from the fact that he had been so wrong, and that he had been unnecessarily rude to this girl. He wanted to make it up to her, but he didn't even know who she was.

"Well?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and motioning to the wallet. "Can I have my wallet?"

"Oh! Oh, right, yes, of course," Austin spluttered, awkwardly picking her wallet up and passing it to her. "Here."

The girl stood and smiled her thanks, mumbling something that was likely to be _'thank you'_ , and moved to leave the café. She slung her bag back over her shoulder and tucked her wallet away, patting the bag as though checking it was definitely in there.

"Wait!" Austin exclaimed, and she turned around slowly, patting her pockets as though she were checking she hadn't accidentally left behind her phone or something. "Uh, sorry for, um. Being all. Mean earlier. And whatnot. Sorry."

"Hm? Oh, right, yeah. No worries." She gave him an awkward thumbs up and started to walk away again.

"Wait," he called again, standing from the booth and walking towards her. "I – I didn't even catch your name."

The girl looked confused and sighed, running a hand over her face. "And I didn't catch yours either," she said, patting him patronisingly on the head. She walked away once more before he could even react. She exited the store, the bell tinkling as she opened the door and left.

"I'm Austin, nice to meet you too," he muttered under his breath sarcastically, sighing as the door swung shut.

 **A/N: Ahahahaha gotcha! Did anyone think his girlfriend was Ally, until I started going into the in-depth description of** _ **the girlfriend**_ **?**

 **But yes, I hope you enjoyed that. Lemme know what you thought! Are you iNtRiGuEd? Hooray! Is this worth continuing?!**

 **Side note – It physically pained me to write about how much Austin likes Piper, because on the show I think the way she treated him in that first episode was super mean lmao. She judged him the same way he judged her? And then she acted like she wasn't being super hypocritical? That's why, when I made Ally judge Austin, I made her hyperaware of how hypocritical she was being. If I continue this, I promise not to bash Piper as a character, since I think she's a pretty cool character, but I will be putting in my reasons as to why I don't ship Ausper and whatnot. That will be much later, though. A few chapters in.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: lol I don't own Austin and Ally and I am in no way affiliated with Disney or Disney's affiliates**

 **Word Count: 5 201**

 **A/N: Ahhh, I couldn't resist starting up chapter 2, even though my exams have just started** _ **and**_ **I have another A &A fic underway. That one is completely planned out, chapter by chapter, so keep an eye out for it! But this one is more like, I had a general idea that I couldn't shake so I just had to start writing. **

**So really, I'm not sure how long this fic will be, but it** _ **will**_ **be a multi-chap fic! I'm going to estimate around 10 chapters, but it's likely to be a bit less – maybe closer to seven-ish? I don't know, we'll see! Oooh.**

 **Also, this chapter is a little bit different to the other one – it's considerably choppy, with LOTS of page breaks, but that's only because I had multiple scenes that I wanted to write out and they were all incredibly short so I didn't see any reason to put them in separate chapters since they're only around 500 words each, like a montage of sorts – but anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

"Ouch!" Austin exclaimed, rubbing his chest. "Don't pinch my nipples," he whined, swatting his girlfriend's hand away.

"I can't believe you were so rude!" Piper exclaimed, pinching his nipple sharply in retribution once more. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down so that he was eye level with her. "Austin, babe, you know that _I_ know that you're a _wonderful_ person, but this girl was probably having an _awful_ day, and you probably just made it worse!"

Austin pouted, and stood up straight, running a hand through his hair. His girlfriend could be rather scary at times, but he knew it was only because she got so passionate about things. On the surface, she always seemed cool and collected, but he knew that when she got passionate about something she would get incredibly emotional. It was one of the things he loved about her – she was just so _full_ of passion and emotion.

"It's not like I'm ever going to see her again!" Austin defended himself weakly. "Besides, I tried to apologise. She just walked out of the café!"

Piper sighed and shook her head at her boyfriend, before sitting on his couch and motioning he join her. When she sat down, she tucked her head into his chest and began to draw random patterns across his stomach.

"It's just…" She began, biting her lip before looking up at him. "Remember when we first met? And I just assumed you were vain and shallow and an asshole because you like to style your hair. But I was so, _so_ wrong. I mean… I used to just _judge_ people by their cover. But I don't do that anymore. Or at least, I try not to do that anymore. Because you showed me that I was doing exactly what I thought you were doing, and that was wrong. I never thought _you_ would judge someone by their cover."

"But – but I don't!" Austin exclaimed defensively, looking upset.

The blonde gave him a wry look and threatening poked him in the chest. "Don't give me that crap. You know that that's exactly what you did."

It was true that Austin was only being defensive because he felt incredibly guilty. Piper could always see right through him. He had tried to apologise to the girl with ombré hair, but she had dismissed it and forgiven him far too easily. He still felt guilty for being mean. He had even spoken to Cassidy after the girl had left, trying to find a way to appease his conscience. Cassidy had told him that yes, that girl _was_ a regular, but she had refused to tell him what her name was. She had told him that 'that girl is far too sweet to be your friend, so don't bother her.'

"If you see that girl again, I want you to apologise for being an asshole," Piper said sternly, turning her face into his chest and cuddling into him.

Austin sighed and rubbed her back. "I hate it when you're right," he muttered under his breath. She heard him, and simply gave him a winning smile.

* * *

It was a rainy day when Austin eventually ran into the girl again. She scuttled into the café, shaking water droplets out of her curls and unzipping her hoodie as she made her way in. He was sitting in his regular booth, warming his hands on a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and as soon as he recognised the girl, he grinned in excitement.

"Hey, Elliot," the girl said, waving at the barista. "Can I please have –"

"—A medium cappuccino, no sugar, and skim milk?" He finished, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

The girl rolled her eyes, and Austin saw the beginnings of a playful smile pushing itself onto her face. He wondered if _he_ would be able to make her smile like that.

"You forgot the—"

"—chocolate chip muffin?" Elliot finished once more, already starting to make her coffee.

For a brief moment, jealously fluttered through Austin at the flirtatious way the girl smiled and giggled, flipping her hair over her shoulder as Elliot smiled warmly at her and set about making her order. It was clear that they knew each other, and Austin wondered how he had never seen the girl before – he knew almost every barista in the café, on account of being friends with the owner. And now, it seemed, she knew Elliot _and_ Cassidy, two of the baristas Austin was closest with. He reflected thoughtfully that he wasn't normally in the café at this time – he had actually been on his way to the music store, but since it had started raining, he had ducked in for a quick coffee, or at least until the rain had eased up a bit.

Perhaps she always came in whenever he wasn't there, and it was only inevitable that after they had finally crossed paths, they were always going to run into each other.

Austin shook the thought away. That was a weird thought, but then again, he had always been into the idea of fate and destiny.

While Elliot was making the girl's coffee, Austin wondered if he should go up and say 'hi'. He wasn't even sure she would remember him, but they had spoken for long enough that she would at _least_ recognise him. And perhaps she had lied before – perhaps she _had_ seen him performing there before, but simply hadn't made the connection between his face and his music.

Before Austin could make any real decision as to whether or not he should go up and say something, she was waving a 'goodbye' to Elliot, and walking out with the foam cup clutched in her tiny hand, and a paper bag with a muffin swinging in the other.

 _Dammit._

* * *

It was a sunny day the second time Austin ran into the girl again. He quite literally _ran_ into her, which meant that he had yet a _noth_ er thing on his List of Apologies to apologise to her about. His day had started out so nicely, as well! The sun was shining, the birds were chirping – and waking up in Piper's bed, her blonde hair mixing with his so that he could barely tell where he ended and she began, well… That wasn't such a bad start to the morning, either. In fact, Austin quite enjoyed waking up like that.

He had walked into the café, with a grin that couldn't be wiped off his face even if he had tried, when a small and petite body bumped into his chest and stumbled back. It was the girl with ombré hair, and she was blinking those big brown eyes rapidly as though she were trying to comprehend the fact that she had just walked directly into his chest. Her gaze flickered up to meet his, and her brows scrunched together as though she were trying to figure out where she had seen him before, her lips pursed and puckered out just the slightest as she looked at him quizzically.

Even though he felt guilty for thinking it, he couldn't recall a time when he had ever seen Piper look that adorably confused.

As she slowly recognised him, a shy smile spread over her face, and she ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her hands tucked in the pockets of her jacket as she moved to walk around him.

"Wait!" He called, but she had already left the café.

 _Double dammit_.

* * *

"Yikes, slow down there," Cassidy drawled as Austin quite literally _fell_ into the café. "You're going to hurt yourself – or worse, you're going to hurt someone _else_."

Austin rolled his eyes, dusting off his jeans as he stood up. He ran a hair through his dishevelled blond hair, clearly distressed as he tripped over a chair and almost fell over again. "Double espresso, four sugars, and milk," he called out to Cassidy, pulling out his wallet and counting out the exact change before he had even made it to the counter.

The strawberry blonde girl shook her head and muttered something about Austin's ' _disgusting sweet tooth_ ' and something else about the fact that he ' _can't even handle an espresso_ '. Austin rolled his eyes and pointedly gave her exact change, putting her tip back into his pocket. She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling – Cassidy could never stay annoyed with Austin for very long.

"What? No 'hi, Cas, how are ya?'" Cassidy asked, raising an eyebrow as she prepared his drink

Normally, Austin would be quite chatty, but he was late. He was _late_. Finals week was not his friend, and he had an exam in twenty-five minutes – and it wasn't a performance exam, either. It was a musical theory exam, and while he was confident that he knew music inside and out, he wasn't sure he was prepared to write an essay about it. When Austin had first gotten accepted into the renowned NYUPA – New York University of Performing Arts – he had been ecstatic, and while he was still incredibly happy to be one of the lucky few who had made it into the esteemed university, he did not necessarily enjoy the exams.

"I'm late," he griped, and Cassidy rolled his eyes.

"Austin, you're only twenty. Relax. You've got a few more years before you graduate."

"I'm twenty- _one_ ," he mumbled defiantly under his breath.

"Same difference," Cassidy responded dismissively, smiling at the blond. "Here you go. Wait a few minutes before you drink it, I know you're going to scald yourself."

Austin scowled at her, but obediently took her advice, taking the cup from her hand and blowing into the opening. "Bye, Cas," he called, gripping the small cup and waving with his other hand. His shoulder bag bounced against his hip as he scuttled back to the entrance, pulling the door open at the same time that a girl pushed it open from outside.

"Oh, hi!" The girl said, smiling at Austin. "Well… Bye!" She said, saluting him awkwardly before moving around him and walking towards the counter.

It was the girl with the ombré hair, the one he had been so desperately trying to find and apologise to, as per Piper's orders, but as he looked between the girl who was smiling and talking animatedly to Cassidy, his espresso cup, and the door, he only briefly debated the pros and cons of walking back in to apologise, before his phone beeped. He knew it was the alarm he had set the night before, the alarm timed specifically to make sure he was out of the café when it went off, and with a reluctant sigh, he pushed his way out of the shop. He would have to hunt her down a different time.

* * *

It had been three weeks of this back-and-forth motion, and Austin was beginning to give up on trying to apologise to the tiny girl with ombré hair. It seemed that each time he was exiting the café, she was entering, or vice versa. Twice, while he had been performing, he had spotted her in the crowd, chatting animatedly to her friends or gently tapping her hands against the table in time to the music he was playing, but by the time he had finished his set, she was gone.

When Austin finally – _finally_ – came face-to-face (well, face-to-chest) with her, it was no surprise to him that she was leaving and he was entering. She bumped into him, her face colliding with his chest, and he could help but chuckle slightly at the dazed look in her eye when she looked up and saw him.

"We've really got to stop _running into each other_ like this," Austin joked, and when she smiled like that – as if she really did enjoy his lame pun – he couldn't help but smile, too. In all honesty, Austin loved to make puns, and although he would groan and moan and gripe whenever someone else made a pun, they really were his favourite form of humour. He had to restrain himself from making too many puns, though, because he knew that it often annoyed Piper.

"Sorry," she said, running a hand through her hair and looking embarrassed. She moved around him, just as she had a few weeks ago when she left without a word. She was squinting at her watch, and patting her bag as though checking she hadn't left anything behind. "Sorry, sorry, sorry."

"Hey, that's alright," Austin said, grabbing her wrist. He wasn't about to let her go again, even if she _did_ seem to be in a hurry. "I'm sorry about the other day."

She looked surprised at the motion, staring at her wrist with furrowed brows before she cocked her head to the side, still looking confused. Then, it seemed to dawn on her, and she shook her head with a smile.

"It's whatever. I'm sorry for snapping, I was just in a bad mood," she said, and then looked at her wrist expectantly, as though waiting for him to release her.

"No, no, you're not allowed to apologise to me," he complained, still gripping her wrist, since he noticed that she had a tendency to walk away without letting him finished. "I was the asshole. I told my girlfriend I would apologise to you."

She shrugged. "Then tell your girlfriend you apologised to me. I don't really care. You're a random dude from a coffee shop that I was mildly impolite to. I'm a random girl from a coffee shop that you were mildly impolite to. It's not a big deal."

"I'm not a random dude," he said indignantly. "I'm Austin. You said that Cassidy told you who I was."

"Okay, _Austin_ ," the girl drawled, rolling her eyes. It seemed as though she were attempting to look unimpressed, but Austin could see the muscles in her face twitching as though she were trying not to smile. "Your apology wasn't necessary, but it _is_ appreciated. Really. I can't say that I know anybody who goes through this much trouble just to apologise to a passing stranger. Your girlfriend is very lucky to have a boyfriend as sweet as you." She saluted him awkwardly, and then attempted to move away again. She really did seem to be in a rush.

Austin frowned, and released her wrist. He struck out his hand before she could move, though, offering it for a handshake. "Friends?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She sighed, and looked at her watch, and simultaneously ignoring his outstretched hand. "Look, I'm really sorry, and you seem really nice, but I'm really in quite a rush. Maybe some other time we can get a coffee or something, I don't know."

And with that, she was gone.

 _Again_.

* * *

Piper looked at her boyfriend with a bemused expression, patting him condescendingly on the head. Austin made a face and poked her cheek, still clearly upset at his inability to make friends with the girl. It was something about the fact that she just didn't seem to _want_ to be his friend that made him want to show her that he was actually quite a nice person, if she would only give him a _chance_. Not to mention, she seemed quite interesting too – he hadn't failed to notice the way she tapped her hands against the table to the beat of his performances, and he had heard her humming a few times when they passed one another, but it was the treble clef pendant around her neck that really gave away her penchant for music. He was eager to befriend somebody who didn't go to his university, somebody who was equally as passionate about music as he was; and if that brown book he had seen her carrying around – the one with the letter _A_ stuck onto it and various musical symbols decorating the cover – was anything to go by, then she was definitely the sort of friend he was looking for.

Plus, the capital 'A' on the front cover meant that Mystery Girl's first or last name started with the letter A. His first name started with 'A', too! They could be two peas in _A_ pod. They could be _A_ good pair of friends. They could be filled with electricity and energy, like double _A_ batteries. The 'A' puns went on, but the point was that Austin felt as though this was the sort of girl he could be friends with. If Cassidy and Elliot liked her so much, she _had_ to be pretty nice. He wondered what else she was. Was she pretty smart? Pretty talented? Pretty musical? Pretty sweet? He had so many questions, and now he just couldn't get that shy smile out of his head.

"Austin," Piper said, waving a hand in front of his face. "You there?"

"I just – I can't believe she doesn't want to be my friend!" He groaned, looking petulant.

For a moment, Piper's faced scrunched up in confusion, and she shrugged. "I don't get why you're so hung up about this. If she doesn't want to be your friend, it's her loss. Besides, you don't even know her name. It shouldn't matter this much to you."

Although her voice seemed calm, there was an underlying tone of clipped annoyance beneath it, and a wolfish smirk spread across Austin's face when he realised that for once in their relationship, Piper was _actually_ jealous.

"Is that a hint of jealousy I detect, Miss Erin?"

Piper rolled her eyes and swatted him. "Shut up. No it's not, you jerk."

"You're jealous!" Austin cried gleefully, his eyes lighting up with giddy excitement.

"Shut up!" She whined, pouting at him. "It's not cute! It's horrible and possessive and _gross_. Jealousy isn't _cute_."

Austin rolled his eyes, feeling slightly defensive. Was she saying that all the times she had told him it was 'cute' when he was jealous, she was lying? He figured she was just feeling embarrassed that she, _Piper Erin_ , had gotten jealous over a girl she had never even met before. "Jealousy means you care," he stated simply, tapping her nose. "It means you're scared of losing me. It doesn't mean that you aren't assured of how much I, Austin Monica Moon, _adore_ you, Piper Hayley Erin."

Once more, the blonde rolled her eyes, and she swatted him again with a giggle. Her laugh was one of those surprisingly dainty laughs, tinkling like a bell. When Austin had first met her, he had expected more of an unladylike snort rather than a dainty giggle, but he found her adorable either way.

"You're such a fucking dork," she muttered affectionately.

He smiled, and kissed her on the forehead. "Love you too, Pipes."

* * *

Austin settled down into his favourite booth, carefully setting his guitar against the wall. He had already paid for his drink, and he watched Elliot with a bored expression as he set about making the hot chocolate.

"Nice set tonight, Aus," Elliot complimented without looking up from the task at hand. "I saw a few people literally _swoon_ when you did that weird growl thing on the low notes."

The blond sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I think I have the flu," he admitted sadly. This was followed by a small coughing fit, which only seemed to further prove his point. "I didn't mean to do the growl-y things. I don't know, this cold is making my voice all weird and husky."

Elliot laughed, lightly tapping the little bottle of cocoa powder to dust Austin's cup of hot chocolate. He even drew in a little musical note using a pitcher of warm milk, before he carried it carefully over to his customer.

"Thanks," Austin croaked. His throat had been sore before he performed, but it was even sorer now.

It was a lonely sort of evening for Austin, which was why he had opted to stay at the café rather than return to the apartment he shared with his best friend, Dez. Piper was always busy on Friday evenings – they were her 'gal pal' nights – so Austin never really hung out with her, unless he called her the next day or if they had planned a 'date night' in advance. When he got home, he would be greeted by Dez, who was in the slow process of packing up all of his belongings to get ready to move to LA. Each day brought Austin closer and closer to when Dez would inevitably leave, and he was not looking forward to having to find a new roommate just to pay rent.

In any case, the café was warm and smelled like home – _god_ , he missed Miami – and the company really wasn't that bad. Elliot was humming cheerfully as he started on the next order for a couple who were sitting by the window, but it was mostly empty, especially at this time of night. Most people left after Austin's performances on a Friday.

The little bell above the door jingled, and Austin glanced over, more out of habit than curiosity. He wondered if another interesting person would walk through – he was yet to find the biker with the tattoo of a unicorn on his bicep again – and none other than the wavy-haired ombré girl he had been trying to befriend _all month_ walked in. She was wearing an oversized red hoodie, with the acronym _MUNY_ printed across the chest in white letters, so it was clear she went to the esteemed Music University of New York. Despite the rivalry between NYUPA and MUNY, Austin had always been fascinated with MUNY, and it had been one of the universities he had applied to. Sadly, he hadn't been accepted, but seeing that this girl was a student there, he was beginning to realise that she probably held more talent in her little fingers than he did in his entire body – and he was damn well sure that he was talented.

"Hey," Elliot called, waving and smiling at the girl.

"Hi, Ell," she responded easily, waving at him awkwardly before returning her hands back to the pocket of her hoodie.

"What'll it be today, Miss Dawson?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.

The sparkle in Elliot's eye intrigued Austin. Was his friend _finally_ flirting with a pretty girl? Austin had often offered his friend the sage advice that working behind the counter in a coffee shop meant that he had the opportunity to befriend pretty girls and get their numbers, especially since his friend seemed woefully lonesome in the friend department. It barely registered in his head that he had finally – _finally_ – gotten _some_ clue as to Mystery Girl's name, but when she smiled and rolled her eyes, swatting Elliot affectionately, Austin's mind honed in on what Elliot had just called her.

 _Miss Dawson_.

That meant that her last name was Dawson! Surely, it wouldn't be that hard to track her down, now that he knew his last name? Although, he didn't want to be creepy. Austin disregarded the ridiculous idea almost as soon as it popped into his head. If he wanted to befriend this girl – perhaps they could compare universities! – then he had to _not_ be creepy.

While Austin was day-dreaming, Mystery Girl Dawson had finished placing her order, and was chatting amiably with Elliot as he made her drink.

"To have here, right?" Elliot asked, looking to her for confirmation.

She nodded, and awkwardly rocked back on forth on her heels.

"Go sit down, Ally," the brunet laughed, waving her away. "I'll bring you your order when it's ready, okay?"

 _Her name is Ally,_ Austin thought to himself. _It's a very nice name._

"Are you su—okay," she said, rolling her eyes and patting Elliot fondly on the head before turning around.

Austin came to the very important realisation that the girl was actually going to stay in the café until she finished her meal. All he had to do now was get her attention. With _out_ being creepy.

It seemed that luck was in his favour, because her eyes settled on his, and a playful smile spread across her face with her eyebrow slowly inching its way up her forehead. Pointedly and purposefully, she made eye contact with Austin and walked directly towards him, imitating the shy and giggly way she had approached him a month ago. This time, however, Austin _knew_ she was coming over to say 'hello', and _not_ because she had left her wallet here. His eyes lit up and he grinned, sitting up straight in his chair as she approached him.

"Can I have my wallet?" She drawled, although the playful smile was still evident on her face.

Austin looked around in confusion, and then glanced back up at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm just kidding," she said, rolling her eyes. "You know, mocking you?"

He grinned sheepishly, and then nodded to the chair across from him with an indecipherable grunt of noise. He cleared his throat and then motioned to the chair again. "Care to join me?" He asked.

Ally laughed in a rather unladylike manner, and then _snorted_ , and Austin _swore_ that it was the cutest thing he had ever heard. Her embarrassed look and the way her hand flew up to cover her mouth as though she had just realised she had snorted only made her cuter. He had expected her to have a dainty sort of laugh, similar to Piper's, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not.

 _Aw_ , Austin thought. _She's adorable. I bet she and Piper would get along!_

"Um, sure," she said, awkwardly sitting. She turned in her chair and looked over her shoulder, waving timidly at Elliot, who simply smiled directly at her and rolled his eyes.

When she turned to face Austin again, with her eyes shining and her hands reaching up to play with her ponytail, it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps this back-and-forth flirting between Elliot and Ally had been going on for quite a while. He made a mental note to figure out how to get the two of them together, since they both seemed to like one another. Yeah! And then he could be the Best Man at their wedding! And he'd get to wear a _suit_ , and maybe they'd even let him play music with the wedding band! And he could tell stories of how it was all thanks to _him_ that they were together!

Austin had a tendency to dwell scenarios that would never happen.

"So," he said, clearing his throat. "…MUNY, huh?"

A confused expression spread across her features, her nose scrunching up just the slightest, before she glared at him accusingly. "Are you a crazy psycho weirdo stalker? Because I only came over here because Cassidy was moaning and griping about how you wouldn't shut up and you kept _wailing_ 'who _wouldn't_ want to be my friend?' But I think I'll, uh, leave, if you're actually some weird psychopath."

So she was adorable, pretty, smart, and paranoid (in the most infuriatingly adorable way ever). Austin definitely thought that she was the perfect match for Elliot.

"Your hoodie," Austin croaked, motioning to the acronym printed across her chest, before he reached for his napkin and went into a coughing fit. At least he had gotten into the habit of coughing into tissues, so that he didn't spray her with all his nasty sick-germs.

"Oh."

"Yup," he replied, popping the 'p' with an amused smile.

"Sorry for assuming you were a psychopath," Ally said sadly. "I'm Ally, by the way."

"Austin," he said, reaching across the table and offering his hand for a handshake.

Once more, her nose crinkled and she shook her head. "No thanks," she said.

" _No thanks_?" Austin repeated, incredulous. "Did you come over here to tell me stop bothering Cassidy, or something?"

She shook her head with a giggle. "Do you really think I'm going to want to shake your hand after I just watched you cough into it?"

"I was coughing into the napkin!" Austin said defensively, turning the puppy dog eyes on.

She seemed immune to them.

"That was pathetic," she said, leaning back and shaking her head. She rocked back and forth on the chair, her hands gripping the table so that she wouldn't fall over.

Before Austin could reply, Elliot came up behind Ally and carefully set down her order. She had a hot chocolate and a spinach feta roll, and her stomach audibly growled once the aroma hit her. The poor girl flushed and looked rapidly between Elliot and Austin, before she shyly ducked her head and started to daintily cut the roll. (Personally, Austin would have just picked up the roll and shoved it into his mouth). Elliot gave her a look, a heart-warming smile that made Austin wonder how the two of them weren't together yet, when it was clear that they both had immense chemistry. Perhaps they just didn't have enough in common.

Elliot left the two, after ruffling Ally's hair fondly, since he _was_ still on the job and had tables to clean.

"So, MUNY?" Austin asked, repeating his question from earlier since she hadn't actually answered it.

She looked up, with bits of pastry on the corner of her mouth, seemingly surprised that he was actually holding a conversation. "Um, yeah," she said, after swallowing her mouthful and brushing the crumbs away. "My dad sent in an online audition without me knowing, so it was sort of amazing to accidentally get accepted into my dream school," she said with a dreamy sigh.

 _Da-yum_ , Austin thought. _This chick must be crazy talented._ After all, he knew that _he_ was talented, and he had approached MUNY with a live audition and _still_ hadn't gotten in. Although, he reflected thoughtfully, perhaps they just hadn't liked his personal essay.

"Well, that puts a damper on this friendship," he declared, a cheeky grin spreading onto his features.

"Oh? And why is that?" Ally asked, adopting a similar expression and leaning forward in anticipation.

"I got to NYUPA," he said with a smirk, before he leaned back and chuckled at her expression, drumming his hands randomly against the table.

"You're so weird," she muttered with an eye roll before she attacked her spinach roll once more. Austin assumed it was her dinner, since she seemed to be in a rush but simultaneously seemed glad to have a break.

"Thanks," he said flatly, taking a loud slurp from his hot chocolate, and earning another unladylike giggle from his companion.

The evening went on like this, with teasing quips and mutual bonding over music (just as Austin had predicted), until Elliot had regretfully informed the pair that it was closing time and he would have to kick them out. Ally had smiled and waved goodbye before Austin even had a chance to ask if they would get to hang out again, but he had a feeling that he would run into the bubbly brunette a _lot_ more often now.

As his head hit his pillow, and his eyes fluttered shut, he found that his ears were filled with a happy, unladylike chortle rather than a polite, dainty giggle.

* * *

 **A/N: Woo! As always, reviews make me so so** _ **so**_ **incredibly happy, and they're really what inspires me to write the next chapter.**

 **PS: I hope you all enjoyed that little Easter egg involving Piper's name ;) Hayley Erin is the lovely actress who plays Piper, and since Piper was never given a middle or last name on the show, I figured I'd exercise my artistic license.**

 **Replies to all you lovely reviewers!:**

 **Behold with awe:** I gotta admit, I didn't think about the fact that I said who the girlfriend is in the summary. Oops. But I'm glad you loved it! I hope

 **A:** Thanks, friend! I'm definitely excited to see how Austin and Ally's friendship evolve, as well. I already know how the ~romance~ will happen, but I haven't really thought about the actual… friendship… making… Idk lol.

 **Maddiexoxoxo:** Aw shucks, I'm blushing. I hope this met your expectations! And I hope I updated fast enough for you lmao.

 **Guest:** I agree! Piper is a very good character, and I felt really bad for her when Austin dumped her. Actually, I didn't like her at all in the first episode, but when they showed her being sad because her boyfriend clearly still had feelings for Ally, I liked her. Especially since she was so cool about it! She wasn't bitter, I thought that was cool.

 **Holy Toledo1:** Omg yes I've noticed that I have a tendency to ramble on. Honestly sometimes when I can be bothered proof reading I really just skim it because I'm like "I do not care about this" lolololol. But the rest of the chapters will be more character-centric! The main reason for the long intro was because I had to set up this AU so that you would all know what was different about this universe.

 **HeartSoulForever:** Ah yes. The summary would have definitely given that away. Oops? I'm glad you liked it! I was worried Ally would come off as a bitch or one of those feminists that are actually man-hating and not really feminists.

 **Thegrlnxtdr093003:** I hoped you enjoyed this chapter as much as the first! Yaaaaaaaay!

 **Lollypop:** Aw shucks. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long!

 **Adorkablerauraxauslly:** Firstly – cute penname, aw. Secondly, I hope this second chapter met your expectations! Ahhhh!

 **YoungANDWild255:** Psssssssssssh. There's no need to feel guilty over this ;)

 **LoveShipper:** Lolololol yeah, poor Austin. I mean, a lot of what he was saying was to just make her go away, but he did make a few snap judgements.

 **Don't-Stop-Believin:** Aw, thanks! Your review made me smile :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: lol I don't own A &A and I'm not affiliated with Disney or Disney's associates**

 **Word Count: 5 052**

 **A/N: Guys! 43 reviews for just two chapters? Aw, shucks! I'll reply to your reviews at the end, as usual, but here are just the answers to the questions you've asked! If you have any more, hmu :)**

 **Guest: "Is Austin virgin ? Or ally ?"**

No, Austin is not a virgin, and I thought about it carefully and decided that Ally isn't, either. I'll give more details about this throughout the story, if you would like? **UPDATE: Due to a mixture of responses to this decision, I've changed my mind and decided to leave it ambiguous. It's up to the reader to decide, while they're reading, whether or not they want Ally to be a virgin in this fic.**

 **behold with awe: "And how are they [Ausper] going to break up so that Auslly may date? Something tells me you won't play the cliché card and make Piper cheat on Austin."**

I can't tell you guys how Piper and Austin are gonna break up! That would ruin the surprise :P No, it won't be the cliché 'Piper cheated on me /3' card, and I'm actually really glad you picked up that I strongly dislike that cliché. Hopefully, when they do break up, you guys find it at least a little bit more unusual than the regular tropes. Throughout the fic I have been subtly hinting at their incompatibility – so who knows? Maybe that has something to do with it ;)

 **behold with awe: "Sooo, have Austin and Piper, uh, "done the deed" yet?"**

 **annie: "did piper and austin have sex?"**

Yes, Piper and Austin did have sex. They have probably had sex multiple times. Austin and Piper exchanged their virginities with one another at some point during the course of their relationship. I haven't thought about it hard enough to give you an exact time, but they've been dating for around a year in this fic, so I guess it's up to you guys to decide. Let your imagination run rampant!

 **Also guys, pls, thank you for all the good wishes on my exams. You're all so sweet! Without further ado, I present to you, chapter 3.**

* * *

"And we ended up talking for, like, three hours. She's from Miami, too! But she didn't go to our school, so I guess that's why we never met her. And we just spent ages talking about music and how it's really fucking beautiful," Austin said, sitting on the counter in the kitchen and swinging his legs back and forth. He was watching his roommate, Dez, hustle and bustle about the kitchen as the red-head prepared their dinner. "She's so cool! We have pretty different tastes in terms of what we listen to, but we both seem to write similar sort of music. She showed me some of her songs, they're really fucking good. Like, damn! No wonder MUNY is so exclusive. The people at NYUPA are basically soggy lumps of wool compared to this girl. I wonder if everybody at MUNY is that into music? I mean, holy fuck, just one conversation with her is making me wish I went to MUNY instead of NYUPA."

"Didn't you want to go to MUNY in the first place?" Dez asked, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully as he squinted into the boiling pot. Austin had no idea what it was that his friend was cooking, and although the combinations were always unusual, they always ended up tasting good.

"Yeah, I did," Austin sighed. "But I guess my application just wasn't good enough."

Dez chuckled. "Well, she sounds pretty cool, man. What did you say her name was, again?"

"Ally."

The red head paused, tilted his head to the side, before he shrugged and began to peer into the pot again.

"What?" Austin asked.

Dez shrugged. "I know a girl called Ally who goes to MUNY. I was just thinking that maybe it's the same Ally. That'd be kind of cool, wouldn't it?"

Austin raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "You reckon it's the same Ally?"

His friend hummed and shrugged, stirring the pot before turning around to grab some sort of weird spice he had bought earlier. When Dez had returned home from God-knows-where, he had very excitedly shown Austin this strange spice and insisted that it was supposed to reduce bloating or something. Austin had lifted his shirt, patted his toned stomach happily, and told Dez that he didn't have to worry about bloating. The red-head had glared at him.

"Dez," Austin whined after a few moments of silence. "So you know Ally?"

Once more, his friend shrugged. "It might not be the same Ally," he pointed out. "But yeah, I met her back in Miami. She didn't go to our school, but – hey, do you remember Trish?"

Austin tapped his chin thoughtfully, screwing up his nose as he tried to place the name to a face. "Trish… de la Rosa? The short girl? Spanish or something, right? With crazy black hair?"

Dez nodded. "Yeah. Trish and Ally are best friends, and when Ally got into MUNY, Trish made me promise to keep an eye on her since she knew I was moving to New York as well. We're still in touch."

"Dude!" Austin exclaimed. "Do you think it's the same Ally?"

His friend shrugged. "I can call her and ask, if you want," he suggested. "I mean, the way you've described her certainly sounds like the Ally I know."

 _Interesting_.

"Hey, why did you never introduce me to her?" Austin asked curiously, shuffling about the kitchen to grab the plates and cutlery they would need for dinner. "To your Ally, I mean. You said you've known her since high school."

Dez shrugged. "I don't know. I met her at those cooking classes I took outside of school. She was all shy and stuff. Didn't seem like she'd really enjoy making friends with you. At the time, you were very different. The only thing you guys had in common was music, it just didn't make any sense to me to introduce you."

Austin pouted. "What about the fact that I'm your bestest best friend in the whole wide world?"

"Please," Dez said, rolling his eyes and shoving Austin away gently. "I only keep you around because turtles can't talk."

The blond patted Dez lightly on the head. "Still miss Gerome, huh?"

"He was the best pet turtle ever," Dez replied, sniffling dramatically.

He turned off the stove and lifted the pot before carrying it over to the counter. Their apartment was a modest one, with only two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, and they always ate at the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. Austin had already set up the bowls and plates required for Dez's most recent concoction, and after serving himself and suspiciously raising the spoon to his mouth, he found that it was actually delicious. It always was, no matter how unusual the combination was.

"Actually," Dez started, and Austin looked up with a raised eyebrow. "There was another reason why I never introduced you to her. Before I met Carrie, I used to have a bit of a crush on Ally. I knew you two would hit it off once you _really_ got talking, so I guess I just wanted to see if I would have a shot with her." He shrugged. "In retrospect, though, I mean, I guess it was just the fact that a pretty girl was being nice to me so I assumed that meant I had to like her. It wouldn't have worked out, anyway. She's too… music-y, for me, I guess. I wanted someone who could star in my movies. She wanted someone who could write songs with her."

Austin looked thoughtful. He had never really thought of collaborating with a song partner, but now that the idea was there, he couldn't shake it. He was only good at writing the actual music – he had never been able to write lyrics, but he had seen her lyrics and he thought they were good.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Dez said, pulling his phone out of his pants. He squinted at the text before glancing back up at Austin. "I guess it _is_ the same Ally," he said, showing Austin the text.

She had sent him a photo message, a selfie that they had taken before Elliot had asked them to leave the store. They were both making goofy faces, and it had gone on her snap story without his permission. (Although, he didn't mind. He liked the fact that he had made it onto her snapchat story before he took out his phone and insisted she add him on snapchat. And proceeded to give her his number, while he was at it.)

' _Hey, this is your friend Austin, right?'_

Austin grinned, and looked excited at Dez. "So she _is_ your friend!" He exclaimed.

Dez raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah. I don't know why you're so excited," he said bluntly, before shrugging and slurping loudly at his soup.

"I… don't know either," he said, as though suddenly hit with the realisation that he had absolutely no clue as to why it was so exciting to know that Dez was already friends with his cool new friend from MUNY.

They continued to eat in silence, just enjoying one another's company. Almost all of Dez's belongings were packed and sealed in boxes, scattered around their modest apartment. Austin knew that he had to either find a new roommate, or start looking around and move in with someone else, because he could not afford to keep this apartment by himself. Dez was moving to LA, after being hired as a director for an up and coming movie that Austin had been assured he would receive tickets to. The icing on the cake was that Dez's girlfriend, Carrie, had been offered a small role in the film – she wasn't the _star_ , but she played the protagonist's big sister who gave advice and had quite a few lines. Austin knew that Dez's dream for a long time had been to direct a movie in which his girlfriend would star in it, and he was happy his buddy was finally living it – but he was _not_ thrilled that Dez was officially moving in with his girlfriend, and that the happy couple had already found an apartment in LA to rent. The movie would take at _least_ a year, and Austin was officially going to be alone in New York without his best friend.

Miami was home, and New York was slowly becoming home. Austin and Dez had been friends since they were in kindergarten, and it was the sort of friendship that was constantly developing and changing as their own personalities changed and developed, but the one thing that had remained the same had been their signature _'what up?_ ' handshake. It saddened Austin to think that all of it was coming to an end – he and Dez had never been apart for longer than a summer, and after three or so years of sharing an apartment with his kooky friend, he had really grown accustomed to it. As though sharing his thoughts, Dez suddenly spoke up.

"I'm gonna miss this place," he commented lightly, reaching for the pitcher of water as he calmly poured himself a drink.

"I'm gonna miss _you_ ," Austin mumbled, dejectedly lifting the spoon to his lips.

Dez cracked a smile. "Hey, we'll keep in touch. After Gerome died, you know that you're my only real friend. Besides Carrie, of course."

"Fucking dork," Austin muttered, but he smiled at his friend and the two continued to share the night in companionable silence and laughter.

* * *

Austin walked into the café, rubbings his hands together in an attempt to warm them. The morning air was cool, as it was the height of spring, and New York had always been much colder than the warm Miami weather Austin was used to. It would get warmer as the day went on, but at the moment, his fingers were cold and he was craving a coffee. He really wasn't that big on coffee, and hot chocolate was his preferred beverage, but he had a big day of apartment hunting ahead of him. Dez was moving out in a week, and Austin had to find a new place to stay before his lease was up – getting a new roommate in the apartment that they had shared for so long felt as though he were betraying his best friend.

Elliot was working that day, and he smiled at Austin and raised an eyebrow as he fiddled with another customer's order.

"The usual? Or are we mixing things up today?" He asked.

"Mixing things up," Austin said, chuckling slightly as he took out of his wallet. "Medium cappuccino, three – um, actually, no – _four_ sugars, to go, please."

Elliot chuckled and nodded. Austin appreciated that Elliot, unlike _Cassidy_ , didn't openly mock him on his inability to drink coffee unless it was drowning in sugar.

After he paid, and went to stand awkwardly in the corner, a warm pair of hands covered his eyes. Whoever it was didn't say anything, which was how Austin immediately knew it was Piper. She had always thought it dumb to say ' _guess who?'_ because she knew that he would recognise her voice, anyway.

"Piper?" Austin asked, his nose scrunching up. And there it was, her dainty little giggle filling his ears as the hands fell away.

"The one and only," she teased.

He turned around with a grin, his smile only widening at her happy smile. _Piper_ was here! She never came to the café. She said she didn't like the smell of coffee, which was her most common excuse for not coming to watch his performances. He knew it was because she just wasn't interested in watching him perform for a few hours, when she could get the same show back in her apartment with a lot less clothes and fewer songs. His girlfriend _loved_ coffee, and he knew she loved to watch him sing, so it did hurt when she told him she couldn't make it, even though he had the same gig every week. However, he never complained. He didn't hang out with her friends, even though she had asked him to, because they were all vegan and thought he was horribly inhumane because he thought that King Cavaliers were _adorable_. They enjoyed to frequently point out that King Cavaliers had been bred to the point where their heads were too small for their brains, and that their very existence was inhumane. Austin didn't enjoy hanging out with her friends, and Piper didn't enjoy going to his gig each week. It was mutually accepted that those were just two parts of each other's lives that they would never interact with.

So, it was quite a surprise for Austin to find his girlfriend in the coffee shop on a cool Sunday morning, especially since they had made plans to meet up for dinner since she said she was busy in the morning.

"What are you doing here?" He exclaimed, linking his hands with hers as she pulled him to a small table near the entrance, where a cup half-filled with coffee sat. His nose wrinkled and he looked at _his booth_ longingly, before waving awkwardly at Elliot to let his friend know that he wasn't going to be in his usual spot. Elliot raised an eyebrow but shrugged – he was familiar with Austin's distaste for tables near the entrance. Too much sunlight, too near the door, too far away to make any sort of conversation with the baristas.

Piper gave him a confident smile and leaned forward, lacing her fingers with his. "Miles and the others cancelled, so my morning is now free. And I know you like to spend your Sunday mornings here, so I thought I'd surprise you."

Austin smiled and drew their intertwined hands up to his lips to gently kiss her knuckles. Her smile only grew, but she tried to look nonchalant by lifting her mug to her lips with her free hand, slurping quietly.

"I'm very surprised," he told her softly.

The blonde giggled and affectionately ran her thumb over his hand. She was always so confident – she never blushed or lost her cool, and although Austin had secretly been hoping his voice had been low and husky enough to elicit _some_ sort of 'wow-Austin-you-make-my-legs-feel-like-jelly' response, he liked that she was confident and happy and could take a compliment without denying it.

"So… I mean, what are you plans today?" Piper asked, tilting her head to the side.

Austin gently lowered their hands but kept his fingers threaded through hers, leaning his face in the palm of his free hand. "Apartment hunting," he sighed.

Her eyes lit up suddenly, and she looked at him. "Wait, I just had an amazing idea. I don't know why we didn't consider this before."

"Hm?" Austin asked, clearly intrigued.

"Well, Dez is moving to LA. Correct?"

"Correct."

"And Dez is your roommate."

"Also correct."

"And Dez is moving to LA and sharing an apartment. With Carrie. My sister."

"Yes," Austin said, scratching his head. "I know all this. That's why I'm going apartment hunting."

Piper rolled her eyes. "He's moving to LA. To share an apartment with my sister. Who, we both know, also happens to be my roommate. Which means that _I_ am _also_ without a roommate. As are you."

He still wasn't seeing where she was going with this, so he gestured with his free hand that she make her point explicit.

"Why don't we just move in… together?"

For a moment, Austin just stared at her. Live with Piper? Return home every single day, and get to see her? To fall asleep in her arms and get lost in the smell of her? And wake up each morning, legs and hearts intertwined, hair mingling to the point where they couldn't tell which strands belong to who?

"Hell fucking yeah," Austin said, before he stood and leaned over the table, grabbing her face and capturing her lips in a kiss.

When he eventually pulled away, and sat back down nonchalantly, he noticed with a smirk that her eyes had darkened and her cheeks were slightly flushed. Clearly, he had kissed her as thoroughly as he had wanted to. He supposed that the kiss made up for the fact that they were sitting at a table _near the entrance_. He spared another longing glance to _his_ booth.

"So we're doing this? We're moving in together?" She asked, looking at him for confirmation.

Austin nodded. She squealed. Elliot carried over their drinks, and winked at Austin, having obviously overheard the last part of their conversation. He was brimming with happiness, and he ran a thumb over Piper's hand and shook his head with a grin, already mentally checking off all the things he had to do. Sign his name off the lease, sign his name onto the lease with Piper… It was a long list. His girlfriend started to talk about all the things they would have to do, and all the ideas she had for redecoration to make sure that the apartment was equally his as well as hers, but his attention wandered when the bell chimed and in walked Ally. He watched her as she walked up to the counter, and although her face was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, and there was no smile on her face as she plodded over to Elliot, he still thought she looked quite nice. Judging from the way Elliot's eyes lingered on her outfit appreciatively for a moment before flickering back up to meet her eyes, Austin had a feeling that his friend thought so too. He smirked at Elliot, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Elliot rolled his eyes and discreetly gave him the finger, before Ally finally made her way to the counter and offered him a small smile.

"Hi, Elliot," she said, and Austin could hear her from where he sat. The coffee shop _was_ mostly empty, after all.

"Hey, Ally," he smiled, moving behind the cash register. "The usual, right?" He asked, an eyebrow raised and an impish smile spread over his face as though he knew something she didn't.

"Yeah," she mumbled, and gave him another weak smile.

Elliot chuckled, and walked over to the little oven-microwave thing. (Austin insisted it was some sort of miniature oven, but Elliot and Cassidy had both told him it was a microwave and he was an idiot.) He pulled out a muffin, already warmed up, and then grabbed a cup before making the coffee quickly, and handing it to Ally immediately, who looked impressed.

"That was fast!" She exclaimed, looking through her purse for the change.

"You texted me this morning and told me to have it ready at exactly nine o'clock," he said dryly, and she looked embarrassed before swatting his arm, her hand lingering just a moment on his bicep. Austin's jaw clenched, but he didn't know why.

"I was just kidding!" She exclaimed, the colour slowly beginning to leak into her cheeks and her eyes beginning to brighten. "You're such a dork."

 _Fuck, she's adorable,_ he thought.

"And then, we can go to Home Depot and we can choose a new colour to repaint the walls! It'll be really fun, Austin! But can we please, _please_ not get yellow? I know it's your favourite colour and all, I just think it might be a _little_ bit gaudy. Austin? _Austin_?" Piper's voice brought his attention back to her, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I just noticed that Ally walked in. She and Elliot are all flirty, I wanted to see if Elliot is gonna man up and just ask her out already."

Piper raised an eyebrow and followed his gaze. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, before she looked back at him. "How do _you_ know Ally?" She asked.

Austin tilted his head to the side. "Me? She's the girl that you told me to apologise to. How do _you_ know Ally?"

"She lives in my building…" Piper trailed off, before she shook her head. "Wait, so you're now friends with _Ally Dawson_?" She asked, looking confused.

Apparently, saying a person's name loudly and frequently is enough to summon their attention, because Ally looked up from her phone, from where she sat at Austin's _favourite_ booth, and she tilted her head before a smile spread over her features, and she waved timidly. She glanced back down at her phone awkwardly, before looking up at them again, and looked uncertain as though she wasn't sure what proper social etiquette called for in this situation. Deciding to put her out of her misery, Austin motioned for her to join them. Still looking uncertain, she picked up her bag, waved at Elliot and motioned to where Austin and Piper sat, and then walked over to them, to the _damn_ table near the _damn_ entrance. Austin wished that they had gotten up and moved to her. To _his_ booth.

"Uh, hey, Piper, hey Austin," she said, pulling up a chair and sitting beside each other. "Am I – Am I interrupting something?" She asked, twiddling her thumbs nervously as she looked at their interlocked hands.

Austin shook his head and smiled at Piper, before looking back at Ally. "No, we're just hanging out. Ally, this is my girlfriend Piper. But apparently you two already know each other."

Ally chuckled, and looked at Piper with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye. "I live in the apartment below her. They recently took off their carpets and now I can hear Carrie constantly attempting to tap dance."

 _Why didn't Dez mention that Ally lived near Piper?_ Austin wondered, before raising an eyebrow at Piper.

"Ally always has eggs," Piper said bluntly, and the two exchanged a smirk. Austin felt afraid. Why did his girlfriend need an abundant supply of eggs? She didn't even like eggs that much.

"Um…"

The two girls giggled, and Austin was suddenly struck by the fact that it was Ally's snort that brought a smile to his face, not Piper's delicate giggle.

"Well," Piper said, glancing at Austin as though for reassurance, before she grinned back at Ally. "I'm kind of glad you and Austin are already acquainted. Guess who is now officially moving into the apartment above you?!"

Ally's eyes widened, and she looked between the two of them, her jaw opening and closing. "You – you guys are moving in together? Pipes! That's so great!" She exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly. "Austin, you better not hurt her," she said, sternly wagging her finger. "This one's special," she added, patting Piper on the head fondly.

"We'll try to keep it down," he said smugly, and both girls swatted him, again with that unusual combination of Ally's undignified snort and Piper's dainty laugh.

"Don't be a pervert," Piper said crossly, letting out a huff.

Austin shrugged and took a long slurp of his coffee, leaning back in his chair and rocking back and forth, with one hand wrapped around the mug and the other gripping the table for balance. That was how they spent the rest of the morning, with amiable chatter and bonding. The table near the entrance that they sat at was still bugging him, and he still wished that they were in his booth instead, but Piper looked pretty in the sunlight, and Ally seemed to glow in the warm sunlight filtering in through the big window.

And although Austin felt incredibly guilty for thinking this, the way the sunlight shone through the windows and made the highlights in Ally's hair stand out and made her eyes sparkle, he thought that maybe – just _maybe_ – a table near the window _was_ better than _his_ booth.

* * *

Everything was packed and sealed in boxes, and the apartment looked strangely barren. Since Carrie and Piper had agreed to leave all their shared furniture in their apartment, Dez and Austin had agreed that all of _their_ shared furniture would follow Dez to LA to furnish his new apartment there. To celebrate their last official day in their shared apartment, the two boys were winding down and hanging out. Since all the furniture had been packed and shipped already, they had two portable chairs set up, and Austin's laptop was plugged in with Netflix open.

"You know," Dez said as he returned from the fridge, holding two bottles of beer. "I still don't get why you didn't want to take _any_ of the furniture."

Austin shrugged. "Piper has furniture already. There's no point in me bringing more chairs or sofas or whatever."

"Yeah, but I mean, what if you want to move out at any time? Then you literally have no furniture. You don't even have a bed." Dez handed Austin a bottle, and they clinked it before they each opened their bottle and took a swig.

Once more, Austin shrugged. "I'm not gonna wanna move out. This is it, Dez. Me and Piper, it's going to work out."

His friend looked sceptical, as though he knew something Austin didn't, but he didn't press the subject. "Carrie and I are going to get a pet turtle," he said casually.

Although his tone was neutral, Austin knew that his buddy was excited. He knew that Dez had always dreamed of owning a pet turtle with the girl he loved, and since she also happened to be an actress in the first professional movie he was allowed to direct, it seemed that his whole life was coming together.

"That's awesome!" Austin exclaimed, and the two did their signature _'what up?'_ handshake.

"Yeah," Dez said, grinning. "We adopted him online. He's going to be delivered to our apartment in LA a few days after we arrive and get settled. We're naming him Ham."

" _Ham_?"

"I was craving ham," he said sheepishly. "I thought Carrie was asking me what I wanted for dinner, not what I wanted to name the turtle. But she really liked the name, so we just went with it."

One of the things that Austin knew he would definitely miss the most about Dez was his unusual sense of humour. His friend had this strange tendency to twist any conversation into the weirdest and most illogical conversation, yet somehow it still made sense. To him, at least. Most people weren't conditioned to Dez's unusualness, and often mistook it for him being an idiot – but Austin knew that Dez was smart. Whilst his friend hadn't gotten the _highest_ grades in school, he had definitely gotten _good_ grades, especially after he started to get tutoring from a friend. Dez was inquisitive and empathic, and all the good qualities that Austin thought was needed in a person. The only thing of Dez that Austin wouldn't miss was his inability to knock on a door before barging in.

The next few days went by in a blur. Dez left for LA, with Carrie on his arm and waving enthusiastically. Ally was there too, to bid goodbye to Dez and thank him for being such a nice friend to her over the years. This piqued Austin's curiosity, and made him wonder how deep the friendship between the two were.

He and Piper moved in together. It took a while to unpack his boxes, and by the end of it, he still hadn't unpacked them all. He had unpacked the essentials, namely his clothes and toiletries, and his guitar, but his many folders of notes and university tidbits were still in boxes scattered around the place. They had been informed by an incredibly pleased Ally that no, she could not hear them _in the bedroom_ , and she had whispered that part as though it were something scandalous, and looked so _frigging cute_ , that Austin just wanted to wrap her in his arms and not let go.

He took his name off the lease of the apartment he shared with Dez, and sadly watched as it went on auction. He was yet to put his name on the lease of Piper's apartment, because he lazy and wasn't entirely sure how to do it. It would happen eventually.

Austin even got to see Ally's apartment for the first time. She had a keyboard, and had shyly informed him that she needed something to practice on for university but pianos were expensive and she wasn't sure she was allowed to have one, anyway. They had goofed about and wrote bits and pieces of songs, and for the first time, Austin was beginning to think that maybe he _could_ write songs. She had this sacred _songbook_ that she _never_ let Austin touch, but he was allowed to read it – provided she was holding it and choosing the page that he was reading. It was nice to have a friend as talented as she was – and the first time Austin heard Ally sing, his jaw had literally dropped. She was truly some kind of mythical being, a talented and divine goddess on a completely different plane to him.

Not to mention that she did this _extremely_ adorable thing, where she couldn't seem to take a compliment without looking embarrassed and shrugging her shoulders as though to say 'aw shucks, man'. He liked that she never denied the compliment, but she didn't seem to expect it.

A few times, Piper joined Austin and Ally, and had smiled with her eyes closed as she listened to the pair harmonise. Before they could get onto their next song, Piper would always grab his hand and pull him back upstairs, insisting that dinner was ready. Austin never minded.

All in all, Austin was please. Although he missed Dez terribly, it was nice that he got to hang out with Ally so frequently. Living with Piper was everything he had hoped it would be, and he was still in that 'honeymoon phase', where they could barely keep their hands off one another and each night would fall asleep with large smiles on their faces. And there they were, after three months of living together, each absorbed in university and work but somehow managing to make it.

Austin and Ally had grown inexplicably close over the course of the three months, and each moment that he spent with the smiling brunette made him think less and less about a beautiful blonde in his apartment upstairs.

* * *

 **A/N: Ahh, I'm sorry that the last section of this was pretty shit. I just lost all motivation and was trying to reach 5000 words, honestly. I didn't wanna let you guys down with a short chapter. Hopefully, the next one will be a bit longer and a bit more quality.** **But anyway – love it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews!**

 **Replies to you loVELY reviewers!:**

 **rauraR5fangirl:** Ahhh! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you very much, dear, the compliments are greatly appreciated. They inspire me as a writer!

 **LoveShipper:** Austin is honestly a precious cinnamon roll that needs to be protected at all costs

 **Samlie:** Oh yes, they're definitely getting along now ;)

 **Guest2:** I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE FRIENDSHIP EVOLUTION IN THIS CHAPTER AHHHH!

 **Maz:** Oh my gosh, really? Noooo, you're just saying that! Haha, thank you, and I'm glad I can bring you entertainment. Thank you! My exams are all almost over and I feel very good.

 **Dont-Stop-Believin:** Ahhhh you're so cute pls. Yes, I'm very excited for the Auslly to happen honestly I'm just waiting for the parts where I get to write Auslly freely without Austin being a dick bc Piper is his girlfriend, not Ally lmao. Thank you very much! I needed the good luck ;)

 **HeartSoulForever:** Oh my goodness, yes, I agree. I'm personally a fan of trashy fanfiction, but I do NOT want to be a writer of it no matter how many clichés I consume on a weekly basis. Thank you very much!

 **Adorakablerauraxauslly:** I'm here to entertain! Woo!

 **Rauslly-and-Percabeth-Rock:** Um, firstly, hells yeah! Rauslly and Percabeth DO rock! Ahahaha, I hope you found the encounters in this chapter equally as cute. It was a little less Auslly and a little more plot-based, but I hope you guys still enjoyed it! And yes, she's very very cute.

 **behold with awe:** LOL. Is it vain of me to say that every chapter makes ME more and more hyped for this story? Because each chapter brings us closer to the cuteness that I canNOT wait to write honestly. If you reeeeeeeeally wanna know how they're going to break up, PM me and I'll give you spoilers ;) And thank you very much for your good wishes on my exams! :D

 **YoungANDWild255:** Omg stop I'm blushing ahhhhhhh! I'm glad you like my writing style, really, and I hope I continue to meet your expectations. And of course I need to maintain a close author-reader relationship! You're all so lovely in your reviews, it would be so mean of me to ignore you.

 **helloraura123:** Pls you're my bae

 **Llmav:** There really aren't enough coffee/college/New York based AUs honestly. Stick around, I'm probably going to end up posting more ;)

 **HollywoodHeightsLuver:** I adore coffee shop AUs so much, you have no idea. And ahhhh! You quoted me back at me! That fills me with all kinds of positive emotions. You have no idea how much I'm grinning right now! I'm very happy that you're enjoying the story, and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

 **libra986:** Aye, aye, cap'n! I'll try to update regularly, but I may need a kick in the butt every now and then xD

 **CossPancakes:** Oh my gosh, ahhhh, you think I'm talented? PLsS I'M feeling So MucH LovE eriGHt Now!1!

 **GuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuysPLS! Thank you to all who reviewed, and you're all lovely and wonderful and deserve sparkles and rainbows.** **I promise to try and get chapter 4 out soon ASAP!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: LOL I don't own A &A and I'm in no way affiliated with Disney or its associates **

**Word Count: 5 824**

 **A/N: Hi guys! I'm baaaaaaack! Hopefully I haven't left you waiting** _ **too**_ **long ;) As usual, replies to reviews is at the end, but firstly I'd like to address some questions.**

 **Guest:** **"** **I was just wondering how many chapters you think there are gonna be in total"**

I think I said earlier that I was aiming for around ten chapters, but this has actually moved a lot faster than I originally thought. It's likely to be about eight chapters, but depending on how long I draw this out for, and how much more you guys want after the climax of the story, I _might_ be able to get it up to ten chapters! But at the moment, it is looking to be around eight chapters.

 **Guest:** **"I bet piper ends up being a lesbian and thats why they brake up"**

Okay, I know that's not a question, but I just wanted to share this with all of you because I thought it was hilarious. Hehehe. But no, dear Guest, that's not why they break up. You'll find out soon, though!

 **fraryausllystelenashipper101:** **"is Elliot her(ally's) Boyfriend or brother."**

Well, I sure as heck hope he's not her brother considering the fact that they're constantly flirting and Austin literally saw Elliot openly check her out in Chapter 3. No, Elliot is not her boyfriend or her brother. He's a close friend of hers, and they're sort of in a 'flirtationship' i.e. they flirt a lot and they both like each other, but neither have asked the other one on a date yet. (PS: I hope you didn't read that in a really angry tone because I was trying to come off as teasing and playful but I just reread it and realised it came off a bit rude. Sorry!)

 **helloraura123:** **"what the actual heck, are you TRYING to kill me?"**

Yes.

 **And now… Chapter four! Huzzuh!**

* * *

"Come on and take a chance, make a stand, and break – _break_ – break down the walls!"

The gentle applause of the café filled Austin's ears as he pulled away from the mic, a smile on his face that couldn't be wiped away. Performing was always so exhilarating for him, and he rarely got a thrill from anything else in the same way. Across the room, he locked eyes with a certain brown-eyed beauty, who gave him a thumbs up and a nod of approval. Austin's smile only grew, because he knew he had made her proud. As he turned to pack up his equipment, he heard his gaggle of fangirls gathering around him, and when he finally turned around to face them, it was Brooke who spoke first.

"Was that an original song?" She asked him immediately, her eyes wide.

Austin smiled awkwardly, before he spotted Ally trotting up to them. She gave him another thumbs up from behind the crowd of his admirers, and he smiled. "Yeah, it was," he said, and then he motioned to Ally with a nod of his head. "Ally helped me write it," he said, wading through the group of girls so that he could affectionately ruffle her hair with a hand. "In fact, she wrote most of it. I really only helped with the chord progression," he said modestly.

The brunette rolled her eyes and swatted him lightly, looking distinctly embarrassed. "Austin!" She whisper-yelled, hiding her face behind her hands.

He knew that she didn't like the spotlight. It was something she had shared with him over the past few months that they had gotten to know each other. But Austin knew that Ally deserved to be acknowledged for her talents, and what kind of best friend would he be if he didn't give her the praise she deserved?

A couple of months ago, Austin would have said that Dez Wade was his best friend – and in many ways, he still was. However, Ally had managed to make an impression in his life that nobody else had been able to match, and she had quickly made her way up to the position of his best friend. They had shared many secrets over the past few months, and he had told her some of his deepest dreams and desires that he hadn't even shared with _Piper_ – and granted, many of those confessions may have been under the influence of a bottle of wine and a cheesy Disney movie, but there were a lot of things he had told her whilst completely sober and in charge of his emotions. She had shared secrets with him too – her favourite foods, colours, her hopes and dreams – she had even told him about her crush on Elliot! He had been right when he suspected there was something between them, because although Elliot had never once admitted that he liked Ally back, Austin could tell from the way he looked at her. Austin had even encouraged Ally to ask Elliot out, since he thought it was confident and sexy when the girl took the first move. He definitely thought that he was becoming much more introspective and empathic than he was before he met Ally.

And yet, Austin still hadn't figured out why his jaw clenched every time Ally giggled flirtatiously at something Elliot had said.

Brooke's voice drew Austin out of his thoughts. "Ally?" She asked, and the only way Austin could describe the look she was giving the short girl was _analytical_. They had met her a few months ago, since Ally had insisted on coming to every one of his gigs after she found out that Piper never did. He had never told Ally how much it meant to him that she did that – that she spent her Friday evenings watching him perform the same songs he had rehearsed with her all week, despite the fact that he knew she was busy and that she had better things to do, like preparing to go back to university, which was going to start in a week and a half, and work – although, she had never _actually_ told him what her job was… He had asked her what she did on several occasions, but somehow she always diverted the conversation – but whatever it was must have paid _really_ well considering she could afford to live in a two-bedroom apartment! _Alone_ , as well, considering she didn't have a roommate to share the rent with. Thinking about apartments reminded Austin that he _really_ needed to sign his name onto the lease with Piper, but he was just too lazy and still wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to do that.

Once more, Brooke's voice drew Austin from his thoughts. "I didn't know you wrote songs," Brooke said, tipping her head to the side. She was being a lot nicer than Austin thought she was capable of being – surprisingly, she genuinely seemed interested in Ally's apparent song writing abilities.

"She could be a song writer," Austin sighed, draping an arm over Ally's shoulders. She staggered slightly under the sudden weight of his arm, and then glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh… Yeah..." She fiddled with her hands nervously. "But Austin is the singer! Wow! Wasn't tonight such a great set? Woo! Singers. Talented. Awesome. Yes."

Austin rolled his eyes, turning slightly so that he could look at her. He figured she felt nervous because she wasn't used to attention. She looked so _small_ , with the length of his upper arm practically encasing the width of her shoulders. He realised that his hand was rubbing up and down _her_ upper arm, and he moved his arm away to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. Judging from the quirk of Brooke's eyebrow, she certainly suspected something. When Austin had first introduced the gaggle to Ally a few months ago, it was as though floodgates had been unleashed. They had bombarded her with questions – _"Who are you? Does Piper know about you? Are you and Austin a_ thing _? Did he break up with her for you? Are you his sister?"_ and, well, the list went on – and surprisingly, Ally had answered all of the questions with ease and practically no awkwardness. She barely even batted an eye, as though she were used to being bombarded with questions, and later she had assured him that she didn't feel awkward from the assumptions that she was his 'new girlfriend' or something.

In fact, the gaggle had taken quite a liking to Ally, and had somewhat accepted her as part of their group. When they had seen her sitting by herself, and discovered that she was there to support Austin, they had immediately had her join them so that she wouldn't have to be alone. Of course, Ally was a shy girl and he had seen her often politely decline their invitation and sit near the counter, chatting amiably with Elliot or Cassidy, depending on who was working that evening. They certainly liked her more than they liked Piper, but that was possibly due to the fact that Ally was not a 'threat' to their 'relationship' with Austin.

Once Brooke and the others had left, the café was considerably quiet and empty. Austin and Ally sat in his favourite booth, sharing a chocolate brownie and each enjoying their own mug of hot chocolate.

"You really did sound great tonight, Austin," Ally said after a while of comfortable silence. "But please don't go telling people that I wrote that song, okay? Just let them think you wrote it."

Austin raised an eyebrow, and cradled the cup, warming his hands. He glanced at the small stage and then back at her. "Why not? Don't you want recognition for it? I mean, you basically wrote it. I only helped a little bit."

"Well, I've been writing songs longer than you have," she pointed out. "My first few songs were shit. But I've written enough good songs that you can just claim this one, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid. I'm not going to say I wrote this by myself, because I didn't."

She was quiet for a moment, before she sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. But I only _helped_ you write that song. I did – _not_ – _write_ the song. Got it?" She asked him, and he was surprised by how stern she looked.

"Uh… Sure…" He trailed off, his eyebrows knitted together. "But why does this matter so much?" He asked her curiously, scratching the back of his head.

Ally sighed and looked around as though checking for anyone listening to them. "I'm just – okay, so, technically I'm not allowed to write for anyone who isn't signed to Ramone Records, okay? There's all these copyright issues and –"

Austin cut her off. "Wait, why would you only be able to write for Ramone Records?"

Once more, she sighed and looked around before looking at him in defeat. She leaned forward and clasped her hands tightly on the table. "I kind of, uh... I kind of work there," she said, wincing almost immediately. "But I'm not famous or anything, and I can't get you a meeting with Ronnie and I can't help you meet famous people either so please don't ask. I only write songs. I really, _really_ cannot get you an appointment with Ronnie. Like, that's just not going to happen. So please do not ask."

For a moment, he was taken aback. It suddenly made sense to him why Ally could afford to live in a two-bedroom apartment, _alone_ , in _New York_. She probably made heaps of money! She looked nervous, and it struck Austin that perhaps the reason why Ally always diverted the conversation away from her having a career in song writing, or the reason why she always diverted the conversation from her job _in general_ , was not because she was shy and unused to attention, it was because she didn't want people to use her to get onto Ronnie Ramone's label.

"I wasn't going to ask," he said, smiling at her and shaking his head. "If I'm going to get onto a music label, I want it to be of my own merit, not because my best friend is buddies with Ronnie Ramone," he teased.

Ally rolled her eyes. "We're not _buddies_ ," she muttered. "I'm one of his songwriters. The only time we ever talk is to decide which artist on his label is going to sing my songs."

"Details, details," Austin said, waving a hand dismissively. "The point is that you're friends with a record label owner, and you didn't want to tell me because you thought I'd use you."

She shrugged, and looked into her mug of hot chocolate. "It wouldn't be the first time it happened," she said dolefully, and she looked far too sad for Austin's liking. On an impulse, he rested a hand over hers, and she looked up with a timid smile. He smiled back at her, reassuringly, and then ran a thumb soothingly over her hand. She brightened slightly, before she pulled away and grabbed her mug of hot chocolate again, taking a sip.

Austin wondered why his hand suddenly felt so cold.

He cleared his throat, and then leaned back, sinking into the squishy booth. "So… Just a songwriter? You don't record music for him?"

Ally shook her head, her eyes wide. "Oh no. No, no, no. No. _No_. I mean, I record the demo for him so that he knows what the song sounds like, but no. No, no, _no_. I'm not – I'm not a singer. I mean, he _has_ asked me to sing my own music, because I know I'm not a _bad_ singer – actually, I'm quite good – but it's just – no. No, I don't like to perform. No, no, no. _No_."

"You just said 'no' about sixteen times," Austin said, counting it up on his fingers.

She giggled and reached across the table to swat his arm lightly. He smiled at her, shaking his head, when an unpleasant memory of her swatting Elliot's arm in a similar way popped into his head. Her hand had lingered just a moment too long on Elliot's bicep, long enough to elicit a smirk and a flex of his muscles from him. His jaw clenched from the memory.

"So…" Ally began, and then she trailed off. Austin raised an eyebrow and she shrugged with an awkward smile. "Sorry, I just thought we'd start a new conversation. 'Cause I didn't know how to continue the other one. Unless you have more questions about my job, which would be weird, 'cause there's really not much more to it."

He opened his mouth to say something, when she suddenly interrupted him.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat. "My friend Trish is coming to visit! Dez says you guys knew Trish. Is that right?"

"Trish? De la Rosa?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yup! That's the one!"

"Then yes, I do know her," Austin said, smiling fondly as he thought of the fiery girl. "She has quite the temper," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Ally laughed – that _wonderful_ , ungraceful laugh of hers, where she would raise a hand to cover her mouth in an attempt to look dignified, despite the _very_ undignified snort that she almost _always_ ended up doing. She was impossibly endearing. "Yup, that's Trish. But she's also just… The best person. Words cannot describe how strong and amazing and whatever she is. I digress – the point is that she's coming to visit before Uni starts again. She was going to come earlier but – well – she was visiting her boyfriend in Nevada and then they took a spontaneous trip to, like, Canada or something."

"Well, that's nice," Austin said, smiling, and leaning forward. "Let's take her on a tour _all_ over the city," he declared.

When Ally gave him a surprised look, he leaned back, feeling embarrassed that he had just assumed he would get to hang out with them.

"I mean – I mean, if you wanted me to join you, I meant, like, I would love to catch up with Trish, and, um –"

Ally cut him off, by putting her finger to his lips and giggling. "Shh, shh. Geez, and you say I talk too much. I'm sure she'd love for you to join us," she said, rolling her eyes and returning both hands to her mug.

"I wouldn't be intruding on some sacred 'girl time' or anything, right?"

"No, of course not!" Ally chuckled, but then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Although, you probably shouldn't bring Piper along. I mean, I love her and all, but I'm kind of selfish and I'd prefer to have Trish all to myself, rather than having to share her with Piper."

Austin raised an eyebrow. "If I come along, doesn't that mean you get less Trish?"

She shook her head, brown curls bobbing and cascading down her shoulders. "No. We'll just ignore you when you get annoying," she said bluntly, before a smile spread over her face. "Besides, it's easy to ditch a guy. We just have to start talking about _lady problems_. It's a lot harder to ditch a girl."

The blond nodded, clearly agreeing with her. He glanced at his watch, and then motioned to the brownie. "Do you want the last bite?" He asked her, and she smiled, before shaking her head.

"No, I had the last bite last time. It's your turn," she said.

 _Fuck_ , Austin thought. _Can she please stop being so fucking adorable_?

It was bad enough that the oversized sweatshirt she wore today was practically _swimming_ on her, making him wonder what it would be like to see her in one of _his_ shirts, to see how it would completely engulf her petite frame – he had a feeling she could probably wear his shirts as a dress, considering how short she was – in fact, he thought that she could probably wear that sweatshirt she was _currently_ wearing without any pants beneath it, but as it was she was wearing a well-fitted pair of jeans that were rolled up at the ankles unevenly, with her hair in a haphazard bun. And now she had to admit that she'd been keeping a tally on who had the 'last bite' of the desserts they'd been sharing over the past few weeks? To make sure they each got their fair share of 'the last bite'?

 _Fucking. Adorable. Fuck._

"Thanks," he said, sliding his spoon underneath the last piece of brownie and bringing to his lips, to try and distract himself from the disturbing thoughts he was having. There was no doubt that he had always found Ally adorable – he had known that from the beginning – but he was suddenly struck with _just_ how adorable he found her.

He enjoyed having _Austin and Ally_ time – in fact, he enjoyed it more than he really should, and he knew this. Each moment he spent with Ally was blissful and musical, and somehow, she made all of his other worries disappear, and as soon as he was apart from her he _missed_ her, and he had this _crippling_ guilt that he missed _Ally_ , but not _Piper_. But… Well… Who _wouldn't_ miss the brunette?! Who wouldn't miss the way her fingers skimmed across the piano keys? The way she moved, the way she spoke, the way she laughed? Austin was alarmed with how physically attracted to Ally he was, but he considered the fact that she was _petite_ and _short_ and his fingers practically _begged_ to touch her shapely butt. He would attempt to push thoughts of Ally out of his mind whenever he was with Piper – after all, his girlfriend was beautiful, and he loved her. She was kind, and she made him happy, and – and – and…. And they looked _fantastic_ together! Yet, somehow, there was a niggling voice in the back of his mind which constantly told him that Ally was kind, that _she_ made him happy, that they looked fantastic together – _and_ they had _so much_ to talk about.

But Austin loved his girlfriend and he wasn't an asshole. Besides, he reflected thoughtfully, even if he _did_ like Ally in _that way_ , she had a crush on _Elliot_. She had told him about it, on multiple occasions, too. He mentally shook away the thoughts, before draining the rest of his hot chocolate.

"Shall we go?" He asked her, standing and grabbing his guitar.

Ally nodded and held up a finger, motioning that he wait for her while she quickly drank the remainder of her drink. Then, she stood and waved a cheery goodbye to Cassidy, who waved back at the pair with a small smile. The strawberry blonde motioned to Ally with a tilt of her head, and smirked at Austin, before turning back to the table she was cleaning. He knew that Cassidy thought the two of them were a much cuter couple than he and Piper, but she had never pestered him about it because she knew that Piper made him happy.

He chose to ignore the niggling voice in the back of his mind that told him Ally made him happier.

With a sigh, Austin gripped the handle of his guitar case with one hand, and kept his other hand clenched in a fist and close to his body. He had noticed that he had trouble with giving Ally personal space, although she never seemed to mind. She didn't seem to notice that he was attempting to distance himself from her in a lame attempt to convince himself that he didn't like her in the way he liked Piper, and she trotted along beside him, humming merrily to herself.

"Y'know, I really like having a guy friend," she decided thoughtfully, turning to face him with a big smile.

Austin's forehead creased, not seeing her point. "What?"

"My dad used to constantly worry about me walking around alone at night, or just walking around with other girls, but when I told him that sometimes you or Elliot walk me home, he felt a lot better. And since you just live right upstairs, it's even more convenient!" She shrugged, and continued to hum cheerily as they walked from the café to their apartment block.

A low chuckle sounded in Austin's throat, and he looked away from her with a smile. "Has anyone ever told you that you're fucking _adorable_?" He asked her, before he could stop himself.

She rolled her eyes and swatted him, smiling and giggling and being freaking _perfect_. "Stop it," she whined, although her laughter ruined the effect.

He made a silly face at her, which only made her laugh more.

"Has anyone ever told _you_ that _you're_ 'fucking adorable'?" She asked, making air quote gestures with her hands and raising an eyebrow at him as she mocked him.

"Stop it," he whined back to her in a high-pitched voice, with a girlish giggle in an attempt to imitate her.

"I'm Austin and I like to randomly compliment girls," she said in a deep voice. "I tell them they have nice hair because I secretly want them to tell me that _I_ have nice hair. I use hair products to make it shiny…" She continued to mock him with more nonsensical statements, leaving Austin to laugh loudly as they strolled through the cold New York evening.

"Stop, seriously, I can't breathe," Austin sighed, once they were safely in the elevator.

Ally grinned, triumphant. "I win that round," she said smugly.

It had been a competition of sorts. Each week, they would see who could be the most ridiculous and who could leave who in stitches, and it was clear that Ally was the winner this time. Normally, he would win, but there was something endearing about the way she imitated him, and he didn't mind losing this time. When the elevator reached Ally's floor with a little _ding_ , she gave him a quick hug before stepping out of the elevator. She smelled like vanilla body wash and calligraphy ink, and something else altogether that was just so very _Ally_ that he felt as though she could make a perfume out of her scent.

"See you later, Ally-gator," Austin teased, waving goodbye to her.

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Bye, Austin," she said, waving goodbye to him. He would have offered to walk her to her apartment, but every time he had offered to do so, she had rolled her eyes and informed him that she was perfectly capable of walking down a hallway by herself.

When he reached his own apartment, the delicious smell of cookies was fresh in the air and as he walked through the apartment, he was met with the even more delicious sight of Piper, wearing only one of his shirts, standing by the counter as she iced the cookies that he could smell.

"Ooh, what's all this for?" He asked curiously, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder, breathing in the smell of her hair. She smelled like the ocean, as usual, and he wondered why he had expected her to smell like vanilla.

"I'm buttering you up," Piper informed him, twisting in his arms slightly to give him a quick peck on the lips. "Because I have something important to ask you."

Austin raised an eyebrow. "Feed me first and then we'll talk," he suggested, before a flirty grin spread over his face. "After all, what's the point in making these delicious cookies if they're not going to be used for their intended purpose?"

He opened his mouth pointedly, and Piper giggled that dainty little giggle of hers before she picked up a cookie and sailed it into his mouth. He took a bite of it obligingly, smiling.

"Delicious, as always," he said quietly, once he had finished chewing and swallowed the mouthful. He kissed her gently. "But I think I like that taste a little more."

Piper smiled and rolled her eyes. "Cheesy fucker," she muttered affectionately, before she pulled away and led him to the couch. "I've made kind of a new decision about my diet," she blurted out. "And – and I'd really like it if you did this with me."

The blond raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. He glanced down at his stomach, patting the hard muscle there before looking back up at Piper with a confused expression. "You want me to go on a diet? Pipes, are you calling me fat?"

She shook her head, eyes wide. "No! No, definitely not." She patted his abs with a smug expression. "Absolutely nothing wrong there. No, it's just… I want to be a vegetarian."

Austin blinked. "Uh… Okay?"

"So, I was thinking we could start simple by cutting out white meats first, like chicken and pork, and then we can phase out red meats like lamb and beef until we're just on fish, and then we can phase that out too. I mean, I'd like to go straight to just being a vegetarian, but I know how much you like your steak, so I figured it would be easier for you if we eased you into this new diet and—"

"Wait, wait, wait – you want me to become a vegetarian with you?"

Piper looked confused. "You just said 'okay'. That meant you agreed to it."

Austin shook his head, looking alarmed. "Piper, no offence, but I'd rather rip out my own eyeballs with a rusty spoon than become a vegetarian."

She looked disappointed. "Austin, that's disgusting. And being a vegetarian will help the animals!"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "How would it help the animals? They're already dead. They're already cooked into our meals. It literally will not make a difference. You should just be grateful and more appreciative for the food we have. Being a vegetarian doesn't make a difference."

Piper looked offended, and she folded her arms across her chest. "Well, I'm going to become one whether you like it or not, Austin."

"Then I'll support you," he said, grabbing her hand. "But I'm not going to become a vegetarian with you."

"Come on, Austin! I promise it won't be that hard. All of my friends had to go through this as well. Maybe if we get used to being vegetarian, we could even go vegan!"

Austin's eyebrows shot up so high that he was worried they would fly off of his forehead. " _Vegan_? Piper! Listen to yourself! Look – be a vegetarian, a vegan, whatever. I will support you whatever you choose. But _I_ am _not_ going to become a vegetarian or a vegan."

Piper sighed, and then curled into his side. "I don't want to fight about this," she mumbled into his shirt, and he rubbed her back. "Let's just go to sleep."

He nodded, and kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he told her, tilting her chin up to look at him.

She smiled. "Love you too."

* * *

When Austin had agreed to drive Ally to the airport – she had said something about not liking to drive when Trish was in the car, and hating early morning New York traffic, and she had gone on and on until she had said enough words that Austin had clamped a large hand over her mouth and agreed to drive, on the condition that they took _her_ car since he, well…. He didn't have a car… – the point was, that when Austin had agreed to drive Ally to the airport, he hadn't expected her to pull a ukulele out of the backseat and start practicing and humming some song.

He was tired. After he and Piper had gone to sleep after their fight, he had trouble sleeping. Her body beside his felt awkward and clunky, not at all like the missing puzzle piece he had believed it was. When they woke up the next morning, he had forgotten about her resolve to become a vegetarian, so when she woke up to a plate of eggs and bacon, they had had another fight – _"Supportive?! This isn't supportive!" "I just forgot, okay?!"_ – and, needless to say, Austin was not feeling very well. He had been quiet the whole car ride, but Ally hadn't seemed to notice yet, because she was busy messing about with the ukulele and hurriedly writing lyrics in her precious book as she went back and forth between the instrument and her pen.

"Woo," Ally sighed after twenty minutes. "It's finished!" She exclaimed, dancing happily in her seat.

"Yay," Austin said, tonelessly.

Apparently, his lack of enthusiasm was noteworthy, because she turned in her seat and gave him a glance. He could see her in his periphery vision, but his eyes were focused on the car in front of him, waiting for the lights to go green. After a few moments of her staring at him curiously, and the traffic _still_ not moving, he gave her an annoyed glare before returning his attention back to the road.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," he snapped.

He immediately felt guilty for snapping at her, when really, Ally hadn't done _anything_ , but he was grumpy and tired and she was making him feel like an exhibit. He opened his mouth to apologise, but then the sound of the phone camera noise was made in rapid succession, and he turned to find Ally taking photos of him with her phone.

"What are you doing?" He exclaimed, his eyebrows shooting up and a hesitant smile spreading across his face.

She shrugged, and continued taking photos. "You said to take a picture, 'cause it lasts longer."

Austin rolled his eyes and put his hand to the camera, gently lowering her phone. She giggled, evidently pleased that she had cheered him up. He chuckled slightly and shook his head, gently pressing his foot to the pedal when the lights flickered green.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Ally asked him, her eyes on the fretboard of the ukulele as she began to mess with it again.

"Piper and I had a fight last night," he said quietly.

"Couples fight all the time," she pointed out, as though to reassure him. She was still strumming and plucking random chords and notes on the ukulele. "Are you alright?" She asked, and he loved that she wasn't being nosy or pushy to find out _what_ they had fought about, and that she genuinely just wanted to make sure he was okay.

"I don't know," Austin sighed, blinking hard with his grip tightening on the steering wheel. "I mean – like… It just felt… Wrong. Like. I can't even – I don't even…" He shook his head, clearing his throat. "She wants me to become a vegetarian with her and she feels like because I don't want to be a vegetarian, I'm not being supportive. Apparently, if I'm not willing to be a vegetarian, I'm not even allowed to kiss her after I eat meat unless I brush my teeth. Some shit about the 'blood' of the animals 'lingering on my mouth'. Like, what the _fuck_ does that mean?"

Ally shrugged. "She's probably trying to sort through this, herself. You know how Piper is. When she thinks she's going to get something, it's hard for her to adjust when she realises she's not. She probably thought you'd agree to this and is now trying to figure out what to do now that she knows you're not."

"I hate it when you're right," Austin sighed. "I'm just… I don't know. Something is different. I don't know if this is going to blow over, and I'm probably making this a bigger deal than it needs to be but we've never really fought before. Is that weird? We've never had a fight before. Whenever we have a disagreement, we just go to sleep and don't talk about it."

In his peripheral vision, Austin saw Ally's fingers still on the fretboard. "That's uh… That's really unhealthy, Austin."

He tipped his head to the side. "What? How?"

Ally shrugged, and began to mess about with the ukulele again. "Relationships are about trust and understanding. If you never acknowledge the serious issues, I just don't see how it can transcend anything more than a superficial adoration or infatuation."

Austin blinked. "Smaller words, please?"

With another shrug, Ally looked at him for a moment and then sighed. "Do you and Piper ever talk? Like… _Really_ talk?"

That was the moment that it occurred to Austin that he and Piper had never had a meaningful conversation. It wasn't that they never spoke about anything of substance – he knew her hopes, her dreams, her past, her aspirations… He knew Piper inside and out, and she knew him inside and out. Countless times, they had stayed up all night and just _talked_ , fingers laced together and bodies as close as physically possible, peppering kisses and murmurs of encouragement. He loved her, he did, but he realised that they didn't share any passions. There was nothing about surfing or animal rights or backpacking through Europe that got his heat racing, nothing about it that made him _excited_. Similarly, there was nothing about music or pancakes or touring the world that got _her_ heart racing, nothing about it that made _her_ excited. They both enjoyed the other's passion, and could talk about it, but they didn't _share_ the passion. They had common interests, but none of their common interests could make their hearts race and eyes light up.

Yet… He spared a quick glance at the brunette who was giving him a quizzical look, before focusing his attention on the road once more. He and Ally had stayed up all night, multiple times, learning each other inside and out. They talked about their hopes, their dreams, their past, their aspirations… And still, Ally remained an enigma to him. He knew a lot about her childhood, but she rarely spoke about her life after her parents had gotten divorced. Heck, he had only learned what her job was _last night_. However, somehow, he felt as though he had known her for years, as though in another world they had been making music since they were young, as though they could have been… _something_. She didn't just tolerate his passions, she _shared_ them. And she had passions that were different to his, but he didn't mind watching her, in the faded light of the moon as she ranted about books and calligraphy and other nerdy things, and she had watched him with wide, adoring eyes as he talked about pancakes and horror movies and other _cool_ things. They had different interests but they shared a common interest that made their hearts race and eyes light up.

He wet his lips and cleared his throat to answer her earlier question.

"No. No, we don't _really_ talk."

* * *

 **A/N: Ah! Character development! This was originally going to have the much-anticipated 'Ausper break-up' scene, but the chapter was getting a bit too long so I've split it up. I'll try to get the second half of it up ASAP!**

 **Replies to you lovely reviewers!:**

 **Adorakablerauraxauslly:** Oh yes, he's definitely starting to like her, even if he's not admitting it ;) By the way, cute penname!

 **Mysterygirl122:** Ahh! I'm glad you're enjoying it! These reviews, honestly, are what motivate me to write the next chapter. I normally write out the whole story first so that I can upload chapters regularly, but since this one is more of an improvised thing, rather than a 'chapter by chapter plan' it's a little bit hard to bother updating regularly xD

 **Guest:** I REALLY love reviews! Thank you, love, and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 **HeartSoulForever:** Pft, I'm blushing, staaahp. It's nice to have a little author-reader relationship, I think, it makes the whole 'fanfiction' experience all the more enjoyable. I'm very very excited for the next chapter, so I hope you enjoy it too! And I hope you enjoyed THIS one!

 **libra986:** Character development! Squeeeee! Ack, it really feels good to know that I'm not doing anything too cliché or over the top. I'm trying to keep it real, yo!

 **LoveShipper:** HAHAHA. No worries, I'm liking the idea of Austin spending more time with Ally and forgetting about Piper, honestly.

 **AAR5:** Pls! You're embarrassing me :P No keep showering me with praise I like this

 **Samlie:** Aww, thanks! I just realised that you're actually the author of a number of my favourite fics! Helloooooo! You write good too!

 **Dont-Stop-Believin:** All in good time, m'love, all in good time. The action is just getting started! I have a feeling you're going to like the next chapter ;)

 **Maz:** Aww! This was so sweet, honestly. Yes, I am _loving_ writing this story, and when I finish it I feel as though I'm going to miss it. I really like this little universe!

 **Guest2:** I hope I didn't make you wait too long :D I'm definitely enjoying the forming friendship as well, and I honestly can't wait to finish the next chapter.

 **XxMissWriter16xX:** Omg 'anywiggles', that's actually so adorable. Thank you so so so much! Writing is probably one of my favourite hobbies and it always makes me all squishy inside when people compliment me on it, so thank you very much, love.

 **L.B:** Yeah, I really should focus on the content more. 'Quality not quantity' and whatnot, and considering I don't normally proof read my work there are usually lots of typos and stuff. Haha oops? But thanks very much for this advice, I guess I'm just trying to keep up my regular standard of chapter lengths but it is reassuring to know that you guys don't mind having it a little shorter than usual! Woo, takes the pressure off :D

 **Lollypop:** Oh man! I hope that when they eventually get together, it meets your expectations! I mean, I think what I have planned is kind of cute but y'knowwwwww. Long reviews make me very happy! Don't ever feel embarrassed about that :D

 **annie:** You're not being rude, don't worry! It doesn't really have an effect on the plot, so I might even just leave it ambiguous and let you guys interpret it as her either being a virgin or not being a virgin. I just think it's kind of awkward to have Austin not being one and having her being one, I don't know.

 **Guest:** Psssssssh. I'm blushin. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Cheers, mate.

 **xxSmileYoureBeautifulxx:** Oh be _lieve_ me, I do _not_ like Ausper _at all_. I just can't stand Austin and Piper, it's honestly grating to write 'cute' scenes between them.

 **behold with awe:** Austin is literally so whipped, like honestly in the show, he's so whipped for Ally even before they get together it's hilarious. And ahhhh, I love Dez so much, I really think people make him stupider than he is in their fanfictions so I'm striving to do his character justice!

 **cornyshor:** Pfffft! Aw, shucks mate, I'm blushing. Thank you so much!

 **Nahh:** I hope I updated fast enough for you! :D

 **YoungANDWild255:** Omg omg omg please you're so cute omg ahhhh I'm happy that I could make YOU happy! And you read it at 2am omg you're precious

 **CossPancakes:** Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! This is reeeeeeeeally good for my ego, honestly, I have the dumbest smile imaginable on my face. I'm actually in the middle of another A &A story so, keep your eyes open! I think it could be even CUTER!

 **sabrinahisham:** AHAHA, it's _really_ not my aim to make you like Ausper omg. I actually really dislike the pairing, but I'm happy that I've managed to write cute scenes between them! I hate it when people make the 'rival' ship in a fic really bitchy and horrible and just not good. I'm trying to make it realistic, I mean, they've been dating for like two years so it would make sense that they're cute together.

 **fraryausllystelenashipper101:** I like Piper as a character, but Auslly is OTP. Seriously.

 **2amthoughts:** I feel as though Dez and Austin probably have much deeper conversations off screen, especially considering they've been best friends for so long. I don't know much about Courtney, honestly, but she seems nice and she seems to make Ross happy so if that's what he wants right now I'm just happy for him, even if my sad little Raura heart is dying a little inside! Ahahahaha omg. I can _not_ stand Ausper either, do not worry child. My tender Auslly heart breaks every time I write a cutesy scene between Austin and Piper, really. Elliot and Ally are definitely more bromance material, but I do think they would have been a cute couple. It just wouldn't have lasted for very long, since they don't have much in common! I'm glad you like the story, mate :D

 **Guest:** I think you can still be innocent even if you're not a virgin. As a Christian, though, I personally don't approve of sex before marriage, but for fanfiction it's a lot more meaningful to have the whole 'first time' thing together before they're married and stuff. Ah! Well, I'll see which side has the majority of votes, and let you guys know in the beginning of the next chapter as to whether or not Ally is a virgin.

 **helloraura123:** She's REALLY in for something. Poor thing. Hah! I made you squeal! Yay!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own A &A, not associated with Disney, etc.**

 **Word Count: 7 814**

 **A/N: Firstly – woot! This is a really long chapter, so maybe you should settle down with a bag of potato chips and a jug of water or something. Stay hydrated, folks!**

 **Okay, so a lot of you reviewed that last chapter and I noticed that most of them were 'guests' voting on whether or not Ally should be a virgin without actually giving** _ **any**_ **feedback on the** _ **actual fic**_ **. I reiterate:** _ **her virginity**_ _ **does not affect the plot of the story**_ _ **at all**_ **,** _ **and most likely isn't even going to be mentioned**_ **. 41 votes for her being a virgin, 30 against her being a virgin, and 3 who do not care. Despite the fact that 'virgin' is the clear majority, I've decided to leave it ambiguous – you can interpret it as you like, since so many of you reviewed your vote as an anonymous guest and I can't tell if it's just the same person voting multiple times. And I'm pretty sure it is.**

 **(A number of your reviews had content that was slightly alarming. I would like to say this, especially for my younger readers:** 1\. Being a virgin does not mean you are innocent, **2.** _ **Losing your virginity does not make you 'mature' or 'less innocent'**_ **,** and finally, **3.** **There is no 'general age' that people lose their virginity!** _**You are not 'lame' or a 'prude' if you're in your late teens or early twenties and you're still a virgin.**_ It's very common for people to wait for all kinds of reasons. **Okay, preachy Fishelle is out. Love you guys!)**

 **Guest:** **Are you gonna have an epilogue or a sequel?**

The epilogue really depends on reader demand. If you guys want an epilogue, I'll give you an epilogue. It's highly unlikely that there will be a sequel to this story unless you guys _really_ want one, but I do have another Auslly story coming soon.

 **YoungANDWild255:** **i was really wondering how can a person write so fantastic stories like this?**

I generally just spend a lot of time reading books, and my writing style is often influenced by whatever novel I'm currently reading. Making sure you spell correctly and use the correct grammar is often all you need, especially on fanfiction where people aren't as picky about 'original' plots.

 **YoungANDWild255:** **how old are you?**

I'm 17!

 **Guest:** **Are Ally and Elliot going to date?**

I don't want to give away any juicy plot details, *spoiler alert* but technically, no, Ally and Elliot are not going to date. They're never going to gain official 'boyfriend-girlfriend' status. _Technically_.

 **Lollypop:** **is auspers breakup going to be an explotion or something. Like 'this is not working but we could still be friends?**

Mate, I promise, you're going to find out in this chapter! ;) (Also, did you mean 'explosion'?)

 **oceanfanfiction:** **Is piper starting to get jealous of Austin and ally's friendship?**

Oh, yes. But she likes Ally a lot, so she keeps it to herself because she trusts both of them not to do anything that would hurt her.

 **Whew! Anyway, here we gooooo! (Sorry about the long AN!)**

* * *

Austin stared at Trish.

Trish stared at Austin.

Ally let out a snore.

After picking Trish up at the airport that morning, all three of them had agreed that a cup of coffee would be needed if they were going to spend the whole day out and about New York City. Both Ally and Austin had had to wake up early in order to pick Trish up from the airport at nine in the morning, since it normally took at least an hour and a half to get to Newark from their apartment block, _and_ they had to accommodate for traffic. While Austin would definitely describe himself as a 'morning person', even he had to admit that waking up at six in the morning and leaving the apartment at seven was far too early. (Not to mention that he was still exhausted from the fight he had had with Piper, _and_ the fact that he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep.) When he had complained that he had to wake up at _six_ in the morning, Ally had pointed out that if he relinquished the hair styling for _one day_ , he would have only had to wake up at six-thirty, at the very earliest.

He loved sleep, but he loved his hair more.

Trish, of course, hadn't been able to sleep on the plane, due to the uncomfortable seats and the annoying person beside her who apparently frequently got up to use the restroom. Since Trish had been in the aisle, she had to deal with the forty-year-old woman getting up constantly and climbing over her in order to get to the small airplane bathroom. So, they had agreed to take Trish to their favourite coffee shop, where Ally had introduced her to Elliot (which elicited a suggestive eyebrow waggle from the short Latina), and Austin had even decided to be a gentleman and paid.

As childish as he was, he had immediately claimed _his_ squishy booth, refusing to sit in the hard chairs on the opposite side of the table, and since Trish declared that she couldn't handle another chair with minimum back support, she opted for the hard chair, Ally had slid in beside Austin so that she could face her friend and chat easily without excluding Austin. This plan did not work, as it became increasingly evident to Austin that Ally was _not_ a morning person. She hadn't even managed to stay awake long enough for the coffee to arrive, before her eyelids began to droop. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder, mid-yawn and mid-sentence, sleepily snuggling up to him.

Which was how the blond found himself wedged between the wall, a brunette snoring on his shoulder, and a Latina he only vaguely knew analysing him from across the table.

"Sooo…" Austin said. "How's life?"

She gave him an amused stare. "You're really bad at small talk," Trish said easily.

He resisted the urge to shrug awkwardly, since Ally was sleeping on his shoulder and somehow, he didn't think she would appreciate being jostled awake by his inability to keep his shoulders still. "So I've been told," he replied, meeting her eyes with a sheepish grin. "I'm not normally one to make small talk."

"I know," Trish replied, still looking amused. "Back in high school, you never shut up. This is probably the longest I've ever heard you be quiet for – even that didn't last very long."

Austin rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he said dryly, before he brightened again and smiled at her. "No, but really, it's really good to see you again! I had no idea that you and Dez were actually _friends_. You used to always hiss at him in the hallways."

She laughed, and then shrugged. "He's a bozo, but I guess he grew on me eventually. Like an itchy fungus. It didn't help that this one," she said, nodding her head towards Ally, "absolutely _adored_ Dez and insisted I become friends with her 'cool new friend' from her cooking classes. Apparently they were 'bench buddies', so they had to cook together a lot."

Austin's nose wrinkled. "Hold on, no, I remember that. Dez told me that his bench buddy was a cute girl who he kept accidentally setting on fire. Why the hell would Ally want to be friends with Dez even after he set her on fire?"

"It was only a little bit on fire," Trish suggested, her tone a tad defensive. "It was really only the tips of her hair, and she'd been meaning to get a haircut anyway. But apparently he was really nice, actually chatted with her, and also apparently came up with _brilliant_ advice for her to get her high school crush to ask her out."

"He did that whole, 'love whisperer' thing, didn't he?" He chuckled, imagining his tall redheaded friend cornering Ally with _advice_. This must have been after his friend had gotten over his crush on the petite girl, Austin figured, otherwise he wouldn't have set her up with someone else.

Trish nodded, resting her elbow on the table and her face in the palm of her hand. "Yeah. He's an idiot, but surprisingly, it worked. Ally and Gavin lived happily ever after, the end."

"Wait – Ally has a boyfriend?" Austin blurted, his jaw clenching without his knowledge.

The dark-haired girl gave him a weird look. "Um… No, not at the moment…"

"But you just said she and – Gavin, was it?" He looked to her curiously, and she nodded in confirmation, before motioning that he continue his baffled exclamation. "You just said that she and Gavin lived happily ever after!"

She shrugged. "Yeah. Until Gavin moved back to Texas and Ally moved to New York."

Austin's jaw unclenched, and he relaxed slightly.

"Honestly, if they hadn't moved to different states they probably would have gotten married. But, they both agreed that long distance doesn't work, so they broke up." She leaned in conspiratorially, and spared a glance at Elliot, who was busy tending to a whole line of people while Cassidy worked frantically in the background. Austin had told them that they could give them their order after the rush had died down, since he knew it stressed them out. "That's why I'm kind of glad that Ally has this crush on Elliot," she admitted in a low voice. "He's cute, he seems nice, and he doesn't look like Gavin, so it means that she's really moving on. Like, she's truly gotten over it, and she really _is_ into this Elliot guy."

Again, Austin's jaw clenched.

 _So_ , he thought bitterly, _she's told_ other _people about this 'crush'. I guess that means it's really serious then._

He cleared his throat, unsure of why he had suddenly had such a malicious thought – wasn't it just three months ago that he was attempting to set them up? It was clear that Ally and Elliot liked one another, but neither were brave enough to make the first move. They hadn't even gone on a date before! Austin had warned his buddy that if he didn't make a move on Ally soon, the brunette would assume he wasn't interested and move on. Although, Austin reflected thoughtfully, Elliot had never said that he liked Ally back. Perhaps Austin had been wrong in assuming that he did. It was just… Who _wouldn't_ have a crush on Ally, with her pretty face and her musical voice and that adorable _snort_ she did when she laughed?

"Well, he's a great guy," Austin said, looking over at his friend, who had that thousand-watt smile and charming disposition that he didn't even seem to be aware of.

For a moment, Trish said nothing. She seemed to _inspect_ Austin, and he squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. She looked at Ally and waved a hand in front of her face, as though checking that her friend was really asleep. Then, she looked back at Austin and tipped her head to the side, her voice low enough so that only Austin could hear – if Ally _was_ sort of awake, she wouldn't be able to hear Trish, because as it was, Austin had to strain his ears to hear her.

"Do you like Ally?"

Austin blinked. "Of course I like her. We're best friends."

Trish rolled her eyes. " _No_ , you idiot. I meant, do you have a _crush_ on her? Honestly, I didn't think I would have to spell it out for you."

The blond spluttered indignantly for a moment, shaking his head. "No! Of course not! I – I have a girlfriend!" He said, incredulous.

"Mhm," Trish hummed, leaning back on her chair and shrugging. "Alright, hot shot, I'm going to say this right here, right now – but don't count on this being the last time I'll tell you this. She's special, okay? That girl believes in second chances, and third chances, and however many chances a person might need. But I've seen her completely done. I've seen her refuse to give another chance. Play your cards right, and you might only need one chance – but if you ever reach the point where _she_ refuses to give you another chance, you can bet your _tiny white ass_ that _I_ will give you _exactly_ what you _deserve_. And just so you know, this speech only applies to you wanting to be near Ally as a platonic influence in her life – the _second_ you even _consider_ dating her, you can _guarantee_ that I'll have _much_ more to say."

Austin gulped. He had forgotten how scary Trish could be – after all, memory was a funny thing and often had a tendency to romanticise and exaggerate the good features of a person – or the bad features, depending on how you felt about them. Since Austin had never felt anything less than a deep respect for the girl in front of him, his memory had warped and made her out to be this truly amazing woman who could snap you in half in her jaws, like a crocodile, but could just as easily fiercely defend you with sassy remarks and manipulation. He had no doubt in his mind that she was still all of those things, but he had truly forgotten just _how_ scary she could be. In fact, he was beginning to remember that one time in Year Eight where she had yelled so sharply that he had peed his pants. Luckily, Dez always kept a spare pair of pants in his locker.

"Yes, ma'am," Austin managed to get out, saluting her. "Duly noted."

Trish nodded, her teeth showing as she grinned in approval. "I like you, Moon. I'd really prefer not to fuck you up, so try your best not to fuck _this_ up, okay?"

"Okay."

It was then that Ally mumbled something in her sleep, and both Austin and Trish exchanged panicked glances, worried that she had heard the whole conversation. However, she simply curled further into Austin, turning her face into his chest and draping an arm over his mid-section in her sleep. With a soft smile on his face, Austin gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders – it had been awkwardly pressed to his side with the way she had been lying before, but now that she had moved slightly, he could too. He rested his hand on her arm, his thumb rubbing a soothing motion, and she seemed to enjoy that because she let out a very contented yawn as she buried her cute little nose into his chest. He briefly wondered why she was so tired, but then he remembered that she had been working on a song earlier in the car – she must have been up all night writing it! He hadn't realised he was still staring at her, sporting a dopey grin at how cute she looked in his arms, until Trish cleared her throat and he looked up at her with his eyes wide, like a deer caught in headlights.

"Hmm," Trish hummed, and Austin got the feeling that she was trying not to laugh. Before she could expand further, Elliot trotted over with a tray of their coffees.

"Hey –" he began cheerfully, before his eyes fell on Ally, curled into Austin's side. He cleared his throat before he continued, but Austin noticed that his cheerfulness suddenly seemed forced. "—guys. Here's your coffee! If you need anything else, I'll be right over there, okay?"

"Wait, Elliot," Austin blurted, suddenly feeling guilty. He looked at Ally and then looked back at Elliot with an awkward grin. "Wanna join us? It's on me," he added, waggling his eyebrows enticingly.

"I'm on the job, Austin," he said, shaking his head. He frowned slightly, brows furrowed, before curiosity finally seemed to get the better of him. "Did you – how is – um, how's Piper?"

A sour taste rose in Austin's mouth as he thought back to the fight they had had that morning. "She's uh… She's okay," he said, attempting nonchalance.

Elliot's eyes softened with concern. "How are _you_?" He asked conversationally, although Austin knew that his friend was trying to figure out what was going on.

"I'm fine," Austin replied coolly, attempting to smile reassuringly. He didn't want Elliot to worry over this, because it would be as though he were admitting that things between himself and Piper were strained. "Just a lover's spat, of sorts. We're good, we're fine. It's good. Fine."

The brunet looked unconvinced, and spared another questioning glance towards Ally. For a moment, Austin thought he saw a hurt expression flicker across his face, before he cleared his throat and nodded to the counter. "Well, I better get back to work," he said. He spared one more longing look to Ally, before he turned and returned to the counter.

When Austin realised that Trish was staring at him with a smirk on her face, he ducked his head and grabbed his cup with his spare hand, lifting it to his lips to avoid awkward conversation.

"Should we wake her up?" Trish asked, absently stirring her coffee.

Austin looked at the girl nestled in his arms. She was so content, as though she were at peace – he always loved how _peaceful_ she looked when she slept, as though she were finally – _finally_ – slowing down and letting gravity take hold of her, instead of constantly running around and trying to please everything and everyone. She had fallen asleep multiple times during their music sessions, and he had carried her to her bed and watched her for a few moments before leaving and returning to Piper in his apartment. He felt as though it would be cruel to wake her up when she seemed to be so tired, and a small selfish part of Austin wanted to keep her cradled to his chest for reasons unbeknownst to him.

"Nah," he said, taking another sip of his coffee. "Let her sleep a little longer."

* * *

By the time that Trish and Ally were ready to have dinner, Austin was exhausted. He sent a quick text to Piper, letting her know that he wasn't going to be home for dinner, before his attention back to the two women in front of him who were holding up shirts against themselves and exchanging opinions. The first half of the day had been incredibly fun, filled with sightseeing and selfies and all sorts of touristy goodness that Austin had always wanted to do, but had never done on account of wishing to 'blend in' with the locals. However, after lunch, Trish had insisted that if she was in New York, she was going to _shop_ , and it hadn't taken much to convince Ally to join her.

Somehow, Austin had been designated the 'bellhop'. He was beginning to think that perhaps he had to work out more often, because even _his_ toned arms were feeling sore after carrying around their heavy bags of shopping. How did girls do this all the time without gaining any muscle tone?

"What do you think of this one, Austin?" Trish asked, turning to face him whilst holding up a sequined shirt to her chest.

He scratched his head. "It, uh, looks the same as the other ones," he admitted.

" _Boys_ ," Trish muttered under her breath, before turning back to Ally. The pair had some sort of silent conversation, before they nodded, and trotted over to the counter with Austin in tow. He was balancing their purchases from other stores on one arm, and the pile of clothes from _this_ store in the other, and he was very grateful to dump the armful onto the counter.

"Where to, next?" Ally asked her friend as the shop assistant began to scan through the things.

"Times Square?" Trish suggested.

Austin's stomach grumbled loudly and insistently. "It's past dinner time," he pointed out defensively, when they both turned to him with baffled expressions. "It's only logical that I'm hungry."

Ally laughed and reached up to fondly ruffle his hair. "Aw, my hungwy wittle Austy," she cooed in a baby voice.

He batted her hand away and made a face. "I told you not to call me that," he whined.

"Aw, is wittle Austy angwy?" She continued to tease.

Trish didn't say anything, but Austin knew she was trying not to laugh.

"Shut up," he whined, stretching out the 'up' for as long as possible. His childish reaction elicited giggles from the two girls, and he smiled as he took the bags from them, let them pay, and finally exited the store. "Food," he told them. " _Now_." His tone didn't leave room for arguing, so they nodded obediently, and followed after him as he navigated his way through the crowd. He made sure to keep an eye on them – they were both incredibly short, and a crowd in New York was anything but yielding. After the third time that he almost lost both of them, he let out a disgruntled noise of discontent.

"What's wrong, wittle Austy?" Ally joked, coming up to walk beside him, Trish on her other side.

"Can you two just hold onto me?" He sighed resignedly. "I keep thinking I've lost you."

The brunette's eyes softened, and she smiled shyly before looping her arm through the crook of his elbow. She held out her other hand to offer to carry some of the bags, and he very gratefully let her take a few. He was all for chivalry, but the amount of bags he was carrying was getting ridiculous, and he was glad to have a small break.

"I'm not going to hold your hand, _Mum_ ," Trish bit sarcastically, but she helped him by taking some of the bags off of his arm.

Austin rolled his eyes, but he didn't complain – he knew that he wouldn't lose Trish in the crowd, since she was chatting with Ally and they would notice immediately if she disappeared. When they finally reached the Chinese restaurant, he was certain that his stomach was attempting to digest itself, and Austin was very grateful for the dinner. He speared various kinds of meat onto his fork with malice, refusing to eat any vegetables as he remembered Piper's decision to become a vegetarian, and her assumption that he would do so as well. When they finished dinner, Trish was more than eager to go see Times Square at night.

It was considerably less crowded when they eventually left the restaurant around eight, but Austin still held out his arm for Trish and Ally to hold onto. Again, only Ally accepted his offer, and Trish just scoffed and muttered something about being a 'third wheel', but he chose to ignore that comment.

"Ah, yes, here is the perfect spot," Trish suddenly declared, when they stood in front of the building that the ball normally dropped from on New Year's Eve. He briefly wondered if she would come visit again when the New Year rolled around, or if Ally would go back to Miami to spend it with her father.

"The perfect spot for what?" Ally asked, tipping her head to the side.

"For a selfie," Trish said, as though it were obvious. She set the bags down on the ground and turned so that the building was in the background. "You, too, Austin!" She exclaimed, motioning exaggeratedly for him to join them.

Both he and Ally followed suit, carefully depositing the bags onto the ground, and then joined Trish. He draped an arm over Ally's shoulders so that he could get closer, and his face could be completely seen in the selfie, and when he did that, he watched with glee as Ally's smile broadened further. Trish quickly snapped several shots, making different faces in each photo, before she pulled away and reached for her bags again. Austin and Ally picked up their bags, but somehow, his arm managed to stay draped over her shoulders as they continued to walk through the crowd, late into the night. Even as the crowd began to disperse as it got later and later into the night, Austin still kept a secure hold on Ally. Eventually, he made a conscious effort to move his arms off of her shoulders, and returned to her simply holding onto the crook of his elbow.

Yet, somehow, by the end of the night, he realised that he had been holding her hand for the past three hours.

* * *

When Austin finally got back to his apartment, it was almost one in the morning. It had been midnight when the three of them reached the apartment block, but he insisted on walking Ally and Trish back to their apartment (since Trish was staying with Ally for the week, they were declaring it 'their' apartment) since it was late at night and he didn't want them wandering about the apartment complex alone. He had ended up hanging out with them for just a little bit longer before he noticed the time and really did have to go. He figured that Piper was asleep, so he shut the door quietly, and tiptoed through the dark apartment, into the bedroom he shared with Piper. He was surprised to find the bedside lamp on. Piper was sitting on their bed with a book in hand, her hair tied in a neat plait and the blankets pooled around her waist, but she looked angry.

"You're awake," Austin commented, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes," she replied, setting her book on the table almost _too_ calmly. "As are you."

"Did I wake you up?" He asked, shuffling through the cupboard to find a pair of sweatpants to sleep in. "I'm sorry," he added guiltily as he turned around to face her, stripping his clothes and changing into his pyjamas.

"You didn't wake me up," she said calmly, although her eyebrow was cocked and her mouth was twisted into a peeved pout.

Austin slid into the bed beside her, mirroring her position with his back against the headrest. "What? So you just woke up randomly?"

"No. I haven't slept since I woke up around midnight for a glass of water and realised you _still_ weren't home," she said curtly.

"I told you not to wait up," he pointed out defensively.

"I'm sorry for being a concerned girlfriend," Piper snapped back sarcastically. "Or did you forget that _I'm_ your girlfriend?" She added sourly.

Austin's face twisted into confusion. "What?" He asked, not understanding her point.

With a sigh, Piper ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Nothing," she mumbled. "I just – let's just go to sleep, okay? I was just worried about you, that's all."

He knew that he wasn't going to understand what was going on inside her head, and if Austin was honest with himself, he knew that he just didn't have the energy to try and figure out what was bothering her. He reluctantly slid down the headrest so that he was lying in bed, and opened his arms wide so that she could snuggle into his chest. With a small smile, as though she were afraid of smiling wider, Piper flicked off the bedside lamp and snuggled into Austin's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair, although he was beginning to think that perhaps Piper was not the girl he wanted to fall asleep with every night.

* * *

It was a Friday afternoon, and Piper was out with her friends. Austin had chosen to stay home, partly because he had to leave for the café soon, anyway, and party because he just didn't want to hang out with her friends. It seemed that she had told them all that he refused to become a vegetarian, because the last time he had seen them, they had shaken their head and given Piper a look as though to say _check out this idiot_.

On Austin's computer screen, a familiar red head was attempting to fix the quality of the webcam he was using, but it was enough for Austin to just see the blurry features of Dez and to be able to chat with his buddy, no matter how crappy the quality of the Skype call. They had managed to keep in touch over the past few months that Dez had been in LA for – after all, a lifelong friendship didn't fade away simply because they were no longer in the same state.

"Nope, can't do anything about it," Dez sighed eventually, and Austin chuckled.

"You say that every week," he pointed out helpfully.

The redhead shrugged, but the blurry quality of the screen made parts of his shoulders go up and down in all sorts of weird ways. Austin stifled another chuckle. They had fallen into the pattern of chatting at least once a week, and of course, they constantly texted each other and asked about each other's day. It was nice to have some 'chill' time, and every Friday before Austin left for his gig at the café, he would have a chat with Dez online. Sometimes their chat was only a few minutes, and sometimes it lasted for a couple of hours.

"So, how are you and Piper?" Dez asked, tilting his head sympathetically. "Trish told me she could hear 'muffled shouting' in Ally's bathroom. Apparently that place has really good acoustics and that's where they go if they want to eavesdrop on you guys."

"They _eavesdrop_ on us?" Austin exclaimed, his eyebrows shooting up.

"I dunno," Dez shrugged. "That's just what Trish implied. Like, they can't _really_ hear noises from your apartment anywhere except in the bathroom."

"That's kind of cool," the blond mused thoughtfully.

"Hey! Stop avoiding the question!" Dez made a stern face at Austin, although due to the crappy quality of the video chat, it was hard to see it. "What's been going on with you two lately?"

Austin sighed and played with the zipper on his jacket. "We've been fighting all week," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's been awful! It's as though we'll be fighting about one thing, but we're actually fighting about something else on a whole other level. Like, the other day she was pouring milk into her tea and I was all teasing and told her that if she wanted to ever go vegan, she'd have to learn how to have her tea without milk. And she got really angry! And we started fighting about how I don't want to be a vegetarian, but I think we were actually fighting about how I don't really like her friends." He leaned back in his chair, looking utterly doleful.

Whenever Austin came to Dez with advice for relationships, his friend would usually look to the side and whisper _The Love Whisperer_. However, he was surprised when the redhead leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin.

" _All_ week?" Dez asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or are you just exaggerating?"

"A bit of an exaggeration," Austin said, and he began counting off the days on his fingers. "We fought on Saturday, because I came home late since we were spending all day out to celebrate Trish's first day in New York. And then Sunday made everything seem like it was okay – we had a picnic and cuddled all day and it seemed like it was okay. But then on Monday, she made salad for lunch without even letting me know so that I could make my own lunch. And we had another fight. And on Tuesday and Wednesday, again, it seemed like everything was okay. But yesterday and today, we've just been… fighting. Like. Not even about anything. It just feels like we're yelling or muttering snarky comments and last night she got so mad that she slept on the _couch_. She wouldn't even come back to bed! She just slept on the cough _all night_. And when I tried to join her on the couch, she kicked me off!"

For a moment, Austin thought that Skype had frozen, since Dez wasn't moving or saying anything. But then, he tipped his head to the side and let out a contemplative sigh as though he were trying to figure out how best to word his next sentence.

"Have you signed your name onto the lease yet?" He asked.

Austin blinked, confused at the sudden subject change. "Uh, no," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "I've been meaning to get around to that," he added sheepishly.

"Yeah, no, take your time with that, buddy," Dez said sagely. "Wait a couple more weeks," he added.

"Why?"

Dez shrugged. "Oh, y'know. Get settled back into college life again because you get all swept up with legal shit and signing names onto papers and whatnot. Just hold it out a bit longer, okay?"

"Uh, okay… Why?"

"Just trust me," the redhead assured him.

So he did.

* * *

Austin stumbled out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. He could still hear Piper yelling something behind the closed door, but he was fuming and he refused to listen to her ranting anymore. Apparently, he had been too rude to 'poor Miles' earlier, when the quiet boy was only trying to be polite in asking how his day was. Austin didn't see how he had been rude – all he done was nodded and smiled in response. He didn't even say anything to him! How was that being rude? But, _no_ , apparently it was only polite to at least _answer_ Miles verbally, rather than just smile dismissively.

They had been attending some sort of function that evening. It was one of Piper's friend's birthdays, and he had tagged along as her plus one. Since he didn't particularly enjoy hanging out with Piper's friends – most of them smelled like marijuana and tofu – he had stuck to her side all night, and had barely spoken a word to anybody. Apparently, that wasn't proper date etiquette. Apparently, he wasn't being a very good boyfriend. _Apparently_ , it was the polite thing to do, to talk to her friends when they were making an effort to be nice to him, even though Austin knew that they didn't like him and he didn't like them. It wasn't as though he had _never_ tried to be friends with them, it was just that he wasn't in the mood for small talk and he didn't have anything in common with them.

Still annoyed, Austin opted for the staircase, since he could slam that door shut with a satisfied grunt, as opposed to the elevators which he would have to wait for. He walked up to apartment 409 and banged his fist against it, trying to relieve some of the anger.

The door swung open, and Ally and Trish stood there in their pyjamas. Neither looked amused. In fact, they both had their arms folded across their chest, and had eerily similar expressions of vague annoyance. Their silence was not intimidating him, but he was beginning to get annoyed with standing in their doorway without either of them saying a word.

"Can I come in?" Austin eventually snapped, his patience worn thin.

"Not with that attitude," Trish snipped back.

He looked to Ally with pleading eyes, and she sighed before stepping aside to let him in. He heard Trish mutter something that sounded like _pushover_ , before he settled onto the couch. They had _Tangled_ paused, and blankets and bowls of popcorn adorned the floor, and he almost felt guilty for interrupting their movie marathon. He knew it was Trish's last day in New York before she flew back home to Miami for university.

"Well, Mr Grumpyguts," Ally said, stepping over the piles of blankets so that she could stand in front of him where he sat. "Are you going to tell us what all that yelling up there was about?"

"I thought you could only hear us from the bathroom," Austin countered petulantly.

"Yeah, well, guess we were wrong," Trish barked, chucking a pillow at him.

"We had a fight," Austin growled.

"No shit, idiot," Trish muttered, and Ally gave her an admonishing glare.

Clearly seeing that he was upset, Ally sighed and sat beside him on the couch. She rested her dainty little hand on his knee and looked at him, big brown doe eyes wide with concern. She inspected him for a moment, as though trying to figure out what to say, before she let out another little sigh and jerked her head towards the television. "Wanna join us?" She offered.

He was grateful that she didn't pester him, because he _really_ didn't feel like talking about it. He knew that he had been rude – he had gone to a _party_ , for goodness' sakes, and wouldn't even speak to the _host_ of the party – and he knew that Piper had every reason to be mad and that this entire fight was his own fault, and only his fault, but he didn't want to acknowledge that. He wanted to keep blaming Piper, even though this fight wasn't her fault at all. Austin gave a short, curt nod, not trusting himself to speak around the lump in his throat. He hadn't been sleeping well recently, with every other day bringing a new fight between himself and his beloved girlfriend, and on the days when she had gotten mad enough to sleep on the couch because she couldn't even _look_ at him without feeling angry, he hadn't been able to sleep _at all_. Didn't all the cheesy romance movies say that 'love conquers all'? Well, why the _fuck_ wasn't love conquering at the moment?

At some point during the movie, Austin fell asleep, although he didn't remember falling asleep. When he woke up, there was a blanket on top of him, and it smelled clean and crisp, like all of Ally's laundry. He looked around, wondering if she had stayed with him, but neither she nor Trish were still in the room with him – they must have gone to sleep, but left him in the living room. Again, Austin found himself immensely grateful for Ally's kindness; it was as though she _knew_ that he was tired and stressed and in need of a good rest. He glanced at his watch, noting that it was almost midnight. With a sigh, he scribbled down a quick note and left it on the coffee table, letting Ally know that he had returned to his apartment. Perhaps Piper would be asleep when he got upstairs. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

* * *

For the umpteenth time that night, Austin ran a hand through his hair. The blond locks were messy and dishevelled from the amount of times he had done so already, and he was feeling the beginnings of a headache gnawing at his temples. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long exhale of annoyance, tipping his head back to rest on the back of the couch, before he looked back at up his girlfriend, who was pacing back and forth in front of him, waving her hands about as she continued to rant.

"Look, Pipes, I'm sorry, okay?" Austin apologised, although he didn't sound sincere.

Since college had started again that week, he had gotten caught up with actually waking up on time and making sure he attended all his lectures, that he had forgotten that he was supposed to meet Piper and her parents for dinner that evening. In his defence, he had told her that he was likely to forget and had asked her to remind him – and she hadn't. But Austin knew that he should have remembered, despite all the chaos in returning to college. His poor girlfriend and her parents had waited almost a whole hour at a fancy restaurant for him before she had finally called him and demanded to know where the hell he was. (He had been dancing around their living room in his underwear, enjoying day-old apple pie with whipped cream on his break from studying.) Needless to say, she had been pissed off.

"It's ridiculous, Austin!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air to convey her frustration. "You said you would be there!"

"And you said you would remind me!" Austin snapped back, patience worn thin.

"Do you – do you even _hear_ yourself right now?" She asked him, incredulous. "You have literally just told me that it's _my_ duty to remind _you_ to _haul your fucking ass_ to a dinner that we've been discussing for the past _month_."

He rolled his eyes and stared at his lap, sulkily picking at the thread on his jeans. "You're being unreasonable," he said. "You told me that you would remind me. You know that I've been busy this week! Heck, this morning I almost poured water into my cereal and milk into my water bottle!"

"That's not a reason to skip dinner with my parents! Do you know how awkward and uncomfortable it is to wait in a fancy restaurant for a whole _hour_? With your waitress constantly coming up and asking what we would like to order? And my father, whose stomach was _audibly growling_ , had to continuously decline and tell her that we were waiting for you? And when you didn't show up, I had to hear the waiters whispering _'that poor girl'_. What the _fuck_ , Austin?"

"You're making this way too big of a deal," he griped, rolling his eyes and looking sullenly at the coffee table.

Piper glared at him. "Or maybe _you're_ not making a big enough of a deal. You _knew_ this was important to me! My parents _love_ you, Austin, but you really hurt them tonight when you didn't show up."

"They'll understand!"

"This was important to me!" She yelled back, looking annoyed. "Don't you fucking _get_ it? This was a _big deal_. This was the first time that we would be seeing my parents since we moved in! Since things started getting _really_ serious between you and me! Tonight was _important_ to me."

"It's not like you don't miss out on important events for me, too!" Austin exclaimed, feeling defensive. "You never come watch me perform at the café!"

"Ex _cuse_ me? Are you – are you really fucking comparing me skipping your _weekly gig_ to you basically standing me up tonight? My parents were so disappointed with you!"

"I showed up eventually!"

"That's not good enough!" Piper shouted back, stomping the ground angrily. Her fancy pink dress swirled around her thighs with the motion.

It almost felt wrong to see her dressed up so nicely with her normally calm face twisted into aggression and anger. Austin felt a pang of guilty to know that he was the reason she was so distressed. "Look," he said softly, attempting to calm her down. "I know what I did was wrong. Can't you just forgive and forget?" He asked her, standing up from the couch and walking towards her.

At first, she seemed to almost give in. He placed his hands on her hips and pressed his forehead against hers, before gently pressing his lips to hers. She responded hesitantly, before she suddenly grew passionate, kissing him as though he were her anchor and she would never kiss him again, as though she were trying to memorise every detail of him. When they eventually pulled apart, foreheads still resting against each other, he offered her a small smile. Piper looked at him dolefully, before she closed her eyes. Austin took this as his cue to gently press kisses down the side of her neck, thinking that his plans to calm her down were working.

"It's – this isn't going to work," she sighed, one hand gripping his shirt so tightly that he thought the fabric might rip. The other hand was playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, gently running her fingers through it.

"It certainly seems like it's working to me," Austin muttered smugly.

She pulled away abruptly, shaking her head. "That's not what I meant," she said, shaking her head. She looked down at the floor. "It's not going to work. This. You. And me. It's just… We've reached our expiry date."

"Don't be ridiculous, Pipes," Austin said, waving a hand dismissively and pulling her back to him. "It's just a small fight. We'll be fine. You'll get over this."

"But I don't want to get over this!" Piper exclaimed, pulling away again, and forcefully pushing him away. "This is just – this is the last straw, Austin! I can't keep doing this! I can't keep fighting with you! I can't keep having this same _fucking_ argument over and over again! I just – I _can't_."

Austin shook his head, attempting to pull her back towards him, but she walked across to the other side of the room. "Don't be like this, Pipes. It's just one argument."

It was her turn to shake her head as she paced back and forth. "It's more than just one argument. Do you realise that we haven't been able to go _two days_ without fighting for the past three weeks?" She asked him, her eyes wide.

"So we've hit a bit of a rough patch. It's _fine_. We'll be _fine_ ," he reassured her, walking over to her.

With another shake of her head, she walked away from him, blinking rapidly as though to stop the tears from falling. "No, we won't. This is – this is _over_ , Austin. Look, I think we both knew this wasn't going to last." It sounded like she was having trouble getting the words out.

"Don't – don't cry," he said quietly, grabbing her wrist. "Come on. We'll get through this! I promise."

"It's not going to work, Austin! God," she exclaimed, yanking her hand back. "Can't you take a fucking _hint_?!" She shouted, no longer attempting to hide her tears. "We're destroying each other! I love you, Austin. And it hurts me to see you like this and know that I'm the reason why. This – it's _toxic_. We've become toxic. We're poisoning each other. And the only way to stop the poison from spreading is to suck it out of the system."

"I'm fine! We're fine!" Austin shouted again, feeling a stinging sensation in his eyes as his vision went blurry. "We aren't _toxic_. It's going to be okay, Piper."

"You can't even fucking sleep!" She screamed, tugging on her hair in frustration. "You can't sleep, and it's my fault! You're not eating, you're not sleeping – Austin, you're not healthy and it's _my fault_. I need to let you go. It's the only way that you're going to go back to normal."

"I'm _fine_."

"Well, then what about _me_?" She asked him, taking a step towards him. She gestured towards herself. "Do you think I'm happy, Austin? Look at me. _Look_ at me."

Her eyes were drooping, as though she weren't able to sleep either. He noticed large amounts of foundation on her face, despite the fact that she didn't like wearing make-up. He realised that the foundation were covering small bumps, as though her clear skin had recently broken out in a teenager-like fit of acne. Her hair was stringy and dull, not at all smooth and luxurious. She looked terrible, and he realised that he did too. She was right. They were poisoning each other. It was toxic.

"I love you," he whispered, trying one more time.

"I love you, too," she told him, lacing her fingers through his. "But I think that this time, 'love' isn't going to be enough to make this work."

"We can make it work," he said defiantly.

"Austin," she breathed, wiping at her eyes. "If you don't move out, I will."

He knew that she was being serious. When Piper made a decision, she never went back – it was one of the reasons _why_ he loved her so damn much. She stuck by her stupid vegetarian decision, and he had always respected her for her ability to keep her word. It was almost ironic – the very reason why he loved her was the reason she was tearing his heart apart, squashing it into the floor and insisting that this was what was best for him. With one more look at her face, he realised that she was being serious.

"Now," she pleaded. "Please. I don't – I don't think I'm strong enough to tell you to leave if you stay any longer," she added in a small voice.

And he couldn't hurt her anymore.

Because he loved her too damn much.

Austin nodded silently, and began to move around the apartment. It almost alarmed him that the majority of his things in the apartment were clothes, since all of his furniture had gone with Dez to LA. It was only his x-box and other gaming consoles that belong to him, and he silently packed them away into their boxes. It seemed that watching him pack his things was too much for Piper to bear, because she walked away and he heard the shower turn on, followed by the sound of her quietly crying. He was gone before she was finished.

He didn't know what to do, or where to go. He loitered outside his apartment, with two large suitcases packed tightly, a guitar slung over one shoulder, and a sports bag slung over the other shoulder with the remainder of his things. There was only one place that Austin could think of to go, as he meandered to the elevator. Somehow, eventually, he found himself staring at the metallic _409_ on the door in front of him, and he could hear the tinkling of a keyboard despite the fact that it was almost two in the morning. He raised a hand and knocked on the door, and he heard the music inside stop, and moments later the door swung open.

"Hi. Do you mind if I stay with you for a little while?"

* * *

 **A/N: Eeeeek! This chapter was so long! I almost split it up again, but I thought it was about time I stopped putting off the highly anticipated "Ausper break-up" scene. So, love it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews!**

 **Also, not many people answered this before but, would you be interested in seeing a scene or two from Ally's POV in the next chapter? (I'm only going to count votes from people who are not on 'guest' this time.)**

 **As a general reply to anybody who says "I love your writing" – thank you so much! I love to write, and I love that you love reading my writing. It's very reassuring to know that I'm good at this, ahhhh.**

 **Replies to you lovely reviewers!:**

 **Guest2** : I love long reviews! I love hearing your thoughts and opinions on the fic, and yes, I am seriously considering throwing in one or two scenes from Ally's POV.

 **Samlie:** Ahhh! I hope you liked this chapter just as much! And I loooooved "you're no good for me", because omfg nerd!Austin and I'm like 80% sure I have you on my favourite authors list tbh.

 **soccerdandan:** As I said before, not being a virgin doesn't make you mature. I really hope you don't ever feel as though you have to lose your virginity in order to be mature! You and your body are worth more than that. But I do agree that she doesn't give off a ~virginly~ vibe in this story tbh xD Ahhh, I'm glad you're enjoying it, love!

 **I-love-raura-auslly:** Firstly – same, I also love Raura and Auslly. Secondly – I threw in a passing reference to her 'serious relationship' in high school! Ah, I hope that was good enough ;)

 **HeartSoulForever:** I agree! I love seeing all of you in the reviews section, having a nice lil chat with me and helping me improve the quality of my work and whatnot. Thank you for the encouragement! I hope this chapter met your expectations!

 **Adorkablerauraxauslly:** Awwwww! Thank you so much, omg that means a lot. I hope it's one of your fav stories for a long time ;)

 **Auslly's Octuplets:** Oooh, look at you, staying up late to read fanfiction. I'm very flattered! But yeah, I see what you mean about this being "Austin's story" which is why I'm a little bit reluctant to write from Ally's POV, but I do feel like maybe we need to see her mindset a bit, simply because Austin is very biased.

 **AAR5:** I hope I updated fast enough! Aw shucks, friend, I'm blushing.

 **AusllyKids:** I'll be sure to include a scene where Austin teases Ally and makes her blush, even though I'm leaving the concept of her virginity ambiguous!

 **LoveShipper:** Ack! Ausper have broken up! Who knows what's going to happen _now_?!

 **r5Lovaaah:** Omg weird, I actually considered that as a potential plot line earlier and then I read it in your review and I was like MAYBE I SHOULD GO BACK TO THAT IDEA but nah, I reckon I won't make a big deal out of that.

 **rauraR5fangirl:** Aw, really? You like my writing that much? AhhHHHh, I'm just a big puddle of goo now!

 **J:** I actually laughed so hard, oh my goodness. Yes, I'm Australian and we say "icing" instead of "frosting" over here xD

 **Lollypop:** Aw babe, I'm blushing. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! You're one of my favourite reviewers, you happy lil chipmunk.

 **YoungANDWild255:** Your reviews always make me smile! They're so long and thoughtful. I love that you're enjoying the story! I'm not going to lie and say I've never read/written smut before, but I don't know, I just feel like smut is kind of hard to write and like I said before, it will only ever be included if it's absolutely essential, and since it's not, it won't be xD

 **XxMissWriter16xX:** I hope I updated fast enouuuuugh! It would be a nice deep conversation for them to share, but honestly, I'm not really sure how much more of the story I'm going to write once they actually get together xD Anywiggles is a fun word!

 **Angie123454321:** Awww! I hope you fell in love with chapters 2, 3, 4, and now 5 as well ;)

 **Lookin' For Treble:** Words honestly cannot describe the noise I just made when I saw that you had reviewed. This might sound really creepy or whatever but oh my _gosh_ , I _love_ your stories, especially Sweet as a Candy Cane. I love long chapters too, and I'm kind of proud of this one since it's longer than the rest hehehehehee. I'm glad you're enjoying it ahhhhhhhh fangirling here soz

 **Maz:** Aw shucks. Austin basically thinks Ally is the cutest thing in the world, and since it's from his POV a lot of the fic is about her cuteness, since that's what he thinks about a lot.

 **Laura16morrison:** It IS always pretty cringe whenever Ally is like "Austin… im a virgin…" and he's like "dw ally ur still beautiful even tho im a man whore and ur not a skank ho luv u"

 **CossPancakes:** Honestly, my ego can probably stand to deflate a little bit. It's rather large. I'll be sure to let you know when the next story is ready for posting! And ahhh, I hope you liked this chapter!

 **MollyG:** I hope the break-up scene met your expectations ;)

 **iloverosslynch:** Same, guest. I also love Ross Lynch. And ackk I love character development so much. I feel like this chapter was a good one for character development.

 **oceanfanfiction:** Aw omg you're actually adorable. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic so much!

 **Dont-Stop-Believin:** Oh, it's dawning on him alright ;) ;) ;) You're going to both love AND hate me for the next chapter, I think.

 **micahDBG:** I'm always happy to give people Auslly feels! And yes, I know what you mean. Ahh, I didn't like the ending of Chapter 3 but I just wanted to get that bit over and done with so I could move onto the rest of the story tbh. I'm so impatient honestly. But I'm slowing things down now a bit, so hopefully it's not going to be as rushed anymore! And aw, thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it babe.

 **AandAfan:** Honestly, it took all of my willpower not to write something sarcastic, snarky, and generally snippy in the A/N at the top. Whoever spammed the review section with "virgin pls" has sort of pissed me off. Thanks for noticing, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who noticed that shit. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and thank you for your review!

 **AusllyBabies:** Yeah, I agree bruh.

 **Guest:** Poor Austin indeed! At least now he has the girlfriend out of the way so he can become considerably less confused ;)

 **Aznmissy04:** Oooh, look at you, catching up on this story ;) Giiiirl! I'm glad I made you smile. ~I wanna make you smiiiiiiiile!~ I always feel so awkward writing ends of chapters omg I'm glad to know they're not as bad as I think xD And thaaaaanks girlfraaaan.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: y'know the drill**

 **Word Count: 10 273** _ **(HOLY CRAP)**_

 **A/N: Ahh! I'm** _ **so so so**_ **sorry that this took so long. I've been really busy with uni applications and stuff, I'm** _ **really**_ **sorry. This chapter is much longer than usual, and has some (hopefully) really cute moments in it, so I hope this makes up for the lateness of the chapter!**

 **Anyway, so I've taken into account your suggestions and whatnot, and after careful deliberation I've decided that this chapter will be in Ally's POV. It's unlikely that I'm going to write in her POV again after this one (which is part of the reason why this chapter is so long), so soak up the Ally thoughts while you can! I think you'll find that she's much less biased and immature than Austin.**

 **QUESTIONS AND SHIZ:**

 **Adorakablerauraxauslly:** **Does this mean auslly is going to happen now?!**

 **Guest:** **I don't' understand austin likes ally or not. If austin loves piper that much we have to wait for auslly right ?**

If Auslly happened right now that would mean the END of this fic! So no, Auslly is not happening immediately, but there is some major progress in this chapter, so hopefully it's enough to satiate your lovely little hearts without going ahead too fast and making it seem as though Austin got over Piper really easily.

 **Guest:** **I was just wondering whether you were British or even Australian cause of the way you write**

I'm Australian!

 **Oceanfanfiction:** **I was wondering of Austin and ally get together almost immediately or if they take things slow. Also if we will see more of piper.**

Weeeeell, it depends on what you mean by 'take things slow'. Considering we're nearing the final climax of the story, they're likely to officially get together after chapter 8 (and yes, I think that the story is actually going to last longer than 8 chapters, contrary to what I previously said!), so I don't know if that's counting as taking things slow. As for Piper, we see a bit of her in this chapter, but it's likely that we're not going to see a whole lot more of her. Perhaps a few awkward encounters, but there's not going to be a lot more to do with her.

 **ON WITH THE STORY! It's a whopping 10 000+ chapter, so I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

" _Hi. Do you mind if I stay with you for a little while?"_

"What? Austin?" Ally blinked rapidly, attempting to figure out the situation.

She was only half-awake, but she had to have this song finished and recorded by noon, which was when she was meeting Ronnie to pitch him the idea, which was why she was still awake. She was almost – _almost_ – finished, but Ally was a perfectionist and she had to get it _just right_. It was quite a shock to open the door and see Austin, standing there with his hair dishevelled and his eyelashes wet as though he'd hastily wiped his tears away before knocking on her door.

She took off her glasses, polished them against her unicorn-themed pyjama shorts, and then put them back on. She half-expected the image of him to be gone after she had cleaned her glasses, but alas – there he stayed, looking extremely tired and distraught at two in the morning.

"Sorry – I know, I know you have to finish that song for Ronnie Ramone tonight, but I just – I need – do you mind if I stay here for a little while?" He asked again, looking quite flustered as he tried to piece his sentence together.

Ally's eyes fell to the suitcases that he was dragging along, the bulky sports bag on his arm, a box of wires under the other, and his guitar slung on his back. She took in his tear-stained face, and managed to finally put two and two together – she figured that he and Piper must have had a fight of some sort. They had been fighting a lot over the past few weeks, and although Ally had previously only been able to hear their gentle murmuring when she was in her bathroom, as they had gotten increasingly louder with their arguments, she had been able to hear more and more of it. She had heard them yelling a couple of hours ago, but they had died down and she figured they had gone to sleep – that was how their fights always ended. Ally realised that she had been staring at him in silence for a few moments, and she snapped her eyes back up to meet his.

"This was a dumb idea," Austin suddenly muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "You've known Piper longer than you've known me, so of course you're gonna be on _her_ side. I'm sorry, I should have known this would be inappropriate – I'll just… I – I'll ask Cassidy or Elliot or something…" He trailed off and shook his head.

"Wait, what?" Ally blinked, and then shook her head, before grabbing his wrist. "Come inside, come inside. What's wrong with you? You really think I'd cast you out at two in the morning? You really think I'd choose _Piper_ over _you_?" She rolled her eyes and then grabbed one of his suitcases, pulling it into her apartment and leading him inside.

An immense look of gratitude washed over Austin's face, and he seemed so overcome with emotion that he didn't even know what to say. He opened and closed his jaw multiple times, as though trying to figure out the best way to phrase how thankful he was. When it became evident that he was at a loss for words, Ally smiled and opened her arms wide. With another grateful smile, Austin stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. He squeezed her so tightly that she was worried her ribs would break, but she knew that what he needed at this moment was a hug. So, she wrapped her arms around his torso, rubbing her hands soothingly up and down his back, with her face pressed into his chest.

He smelled like leather jackets and potato chips, and something else that was just so very _Austin_ that she wondered why people didn't try to smell him more often. She flinched when she felt something cold press against her neck, but she relaxed when she realised it was just his nose. His nose felt like ice when it was buried into the warm crook of her neck, and she reached up a hand to gently stroke his hair, fingers threading through the platinum blond locks as she turned her face and likewise buried her relatively-cool nose into his neck. She felt her heart break for him when she felt his tears smearing against her neck, soaking into the collar of her baggy t-shirt, and the gentle shaking of his shoulders beneath her hand only confirmed her suspicions that he was crying.

It was hard to tell how long they stood there, with him crying quietly into her neck, and her hands gently rubbing up and down his back and playing with his hair, but soon it became apparent that her legs would not support the weight of a man twice her size leaning heavily on her.

"C'mon, let's get you settled," she whispered into his neck.

"Do we have to?" He asked her, his voice equally hushed and muffled slightly by her neck.

Ally tilted her head back slightly, and she sighed. "Austin," she whispered.

She felt him pull his head back slightly with a heavy sigh. His face was now directly beside her ear, and she could hear his every breath. "Can't we just stay like this a little longer?" He pleaded, his voice husky. She shivered slightly as his breath washed over the shell of her ear, casting pleasant tingling sensations up and down her body.

"We could," she replied quietly, and she felt him smile against her neck before he pressed his nose back into it. "But," she added, and she felt him stiffen, "my legs are sore," she admitted sheepishly.

One, two, three seconds passed without Austin saying anything.

Then, his shoulders began to shake. His whole body began to shake, in fact, and she was worried that he had started crying again, but then a loud guffaw erupted from him and tore through the tense atmosphere. He laughed hard enough that he had to pull away. He clutched his hand to his stomach before he keeled over in laughter. Ally was momentarily surprised at his sudden outburst, before a smile wormed its way onto her face and she shook her head at him.

"I'm sorry," he managed to get out eventually, the sparkle back in his eyes. "You're just so – you're so fucking _weak_ ," he laughed, shaking his head.

"Hey!" Ally piped up defensively, folding her arms across her chest and pouting. "It's not my fault if a man twice my size comes into my apartment at weird hours of the morning and basically makes me _carry_ him," she stated, puffing her cheeks out in mock-anger and poking him accusingly in the chest.

Austin held his hands up in surrender, still chuckling. "Okay, okay, you win. So, where should I put my stuff?"

With the smile still firmly attached to her lips, she grabbed the handle of one of his bags and pointed to the guest room. The room was clean and tidy, since she had given it a thorough cleaning after Trish had spent the week, and although it had been a couple of weeks and the sheets were a tad dusty, they still smelled fresh and were at least _clean._ Austin smiled gratefully and followed her to the room, where she spread her arms wide and gestured to the room.

"This shalt be thy home until thou finds a better place to house thy ass," she announced dramatically, much to the amusement of Austin if his low chuckle was anything to go by. "And since you've effectively stolen…" she paused and checked her watch, doing a quick mental calculation, " _half an hour_ of my song-writing time, you may shower and get refreshed, then grab a cup of coffee and help me finish."

"You can't be serious," Austin groaned, rolling his eyes. "I just want to _sleep_. Let's sleep now, and make music later."

Ally cocked a hip out and folded her arms, looking as menacing as a petite girl in an oversized shirt that said _"MUNYicorn"_ (it was a custom-made gift from her father when he had found out she had made it into MUNY, based off of Dez's ridiculous pun) and unicorn-themed pyjama pants, could possibly look. She peered over the rim of her glasses, because she felt as though that always made her look smarter, or at least enhance her ' _are you serious?'_ look.

"Allyyy _yyy_ ," he whined, pinching the bridge of his nose and stretching out the end of her name immaturely.

"Austiiii _iiii_ n," she mocked, before poking him in the chest. "Think of it as rent," she said wryly, before grinning. "Now, go shower. I'll be back soon."

"Wait, where are you going?"

She shrugged, and waved at him with a mysterious smile, before grabbing her keys and the cookies she had baked earlier that evening before exiting her apartment. If Austin and Piper had just broken up, chances were that Piper was heartbroken and in need of a friend. With Carrie in LA and the majority of her friends living in college dorms across town, Ally felt as though it were the right thing to do to comfort her – after all, they were friends, were they not?

When she reached Piper's apartment, she knocked on the door and was surprised when the blonde opened it immediately.

"Aus— _Ally_?" She slurred, and instead of smelling like the ocean as she normally did, she smelled like alcohol.

"Hi," Ally said, smiling sheepishly. "I brought chocolate chip cookies."

That was all she needed to say before Piper pulled her into the apartment and the petite brunette found herself engulfed in yet an _oth_ er hug with a person significantly taller than she, and she knew her legs wouldn't be able to handle it this time. She pulled back and smiled at Piper, before leading her friend to the couch.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked Piper gently, passing her a cookie.

Piper stared moodily at the cookie before taking a small bite. "I couldn't do it anymore, Ally." She sighed. "We were fighting and we weren't happy. And he – I know he loves me, but we just… We just don't have anything in common. And he deserves somebody who can do more than just make him happy."

With an understanding nod, Ally patted her on the back. "You deserve someone who can do more than just make you happy, too, Pipes," she murmured. "Austin is wonderful, and you are wonderful. But each of you need somebody who can _relate_ to your passion."

The drunk girl leaned against Ally and curled into her, crying and muttering nonsense into her shoulder. Ally wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her back soothingly.

"I just – I think I'm going to regret this," Piper sighed. "And I love him, but it's just… Not enough. It's not going to be enough. And it's better that we end things now before we do something like get _engaged_ or _m-married_ and – and…"

She let Piper talk and talk and talk until the blonde was yawning and out of things to say – it was clear that she just needed to get all her feelings out in order to feel closure. She was beginning to blubber, still not entirely sober.

"C'mon, you need to sleep," Ally murmured gently. She stood up and led the girl to her room, before tucking her in.

"Ally, will you sing to me?" She asked in a baby-voice, her eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears.

A sigh passed through Ally's lips, and she checked her watch – it was already almost three in the morning, and it was likely that Austin would already have gone to sleep by now. It seemed as though she would have to pull an all-nighter if she was going to have this song finished. She couldn't deny the sad, drunk girl in front of her, however, and sighed before singing gently to Piper. Soon, she was asleep, and Ally kissed her on the forehead.

"Sleep well, Pipes," she whispered, before shutting her door quietly and flicking off the lights.

When Ally returned to her apartment, she was surprised to find that Austin was still awake – he was just emerging from the guest bedroom as she entered her apartment. He had a pair of sweatpants hanging lowly on his hips, and a well-worn t-shirt hugged his muscular chest as he ran his towel through his damp hair. He looked up when she shut the door quietly, and a smile spread over his face when their eyes met.

"You're still up," Ally breathed. She hadn't realised that a small part of her had expected him to go to sleep and leave her to finish the song by herself, alone to wallow in her own hopelessness.

Austin raised an eyebrow. "You wanted me to help you finish the song," he pointed out to her. He smiled and walked into the bathroom to hang his towel up before he headed back out and checked his watch. "Let's try and get this done by 4am, eh?"

A small, girlish giggle escaped her lips, and she nodded, before shuffling into the kitchen to get her jar of pickles. It helped her think, and since the music part of the song was completely finished, it was the lyrics that she needed the most help with. Lyrics were always the hardest part of any song, in her opinion. When Austin saw her approach him, jar of pickles clutched tightly in her little hands, he rolled his eyes but there was a warm smile on his face. He was sitting in front of her keyboard – sadly, she didn't have a nice piano in the apartment, although she did wish she did – and was sight-reading the sheet music that she had scribbled all over, his fingers dancing across the keys as he searched for each chord and note.

"It sounds good," he commented softly as Ally came to sit beside him. "How long did this one take?"

Ally shrugged, fiddling with the lid of her jar. "Hm… About three weeks?" She chewed her pickle thoughtfully. "This part here," she said, tracing her finger along the music, "is written for a guitar part. Do you reckon you could help me record it?"

His eyes skimmed over the music and he nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. She could see that he was still upset about Piper, and it suddenly occurred to her that he needed to help her as much as she needed her help – music was the only thing that could ease his pain. She finished up the pickle that she had been munching on, and then shut the jar and wiped her fingers against her pyjama shorts and grabbed her song book. With one leg crossed over the other, she clicked the end of the pen and raised an eyebrow.

"Fire away, Moon," she declared dramatically. "Hit me with some groovy lyrics."

"Promise to never say 'groovy' again," he deadpanned, "and then maybe I'll help you."

Ally pouted, turning big brown eyes on him. He was trying to remain stoic, but she could see the twitching in the muscles in his cheek as he tried to suppress a smile – inwardly, she cheered, because she was doing the job of 'the best friend' incredibly well, since he seemed to be distracted enough from his sadness and pain.

"C'mon, I'm stuck," she said, pout still firmly in pace as she slowly poked his cheek with the end of her pen.

"Ew!" Austin suddenly exclaimed. "Why was that _wet_?"

The brunette smiled sheepishly. "I kind of chew on the end of my pen when I'm thinking," she admitted, holding her hands up in surrender.

His eyes widened comically, and he wiped at his cheek with a disgusted expression. "And you think _I'm_ gross."

"Shut up, whatever, sorry, just help me with the lyrics or go to bed!" She exclaimed. It was too late at night (or early in the morning?) for their playful banter, and all Ally wanted to do was finish the song and go to sleep so that she could get it to Ronnie Ramone by her deadline.

Seeming to sense that she was stressed, Austin's eyes softened, and he returned his gaze back to the sheet music. "What should the song be about?" He asked her, his eyes tracing over the melody line and humming it softly under his breath.

"You choose," she said, playing with the sides of her book. "I'm stumped. I'm out of creativity. I can't think of anything."

With an embarrassed duck of his head, Austin scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before meeting her eyes. "What about a song about friendship?" He suggested, wetting his lips nervously. "I mean – just about how you can, like… rely on each other and stuff?"

It was a cheesy suggestion, but Ally didn't have any better ideas. Since it seemed that Austin was in a very affectionate mood towards her, clearly feeling all sorts of admiring things about their friendship, it also seemed that he would actually be able to come up with lyrics for the topic. With a resigned sigh, Ally smiled timidly at him and nodded, blinking rapidly and trying to think.

"Okay, um… How about… Uh… 'When you're on your own…' Um…" She trailed off, shaking her head, and hummed it along with the first part of the melody. She thought back to Austin's tears from earlier, how he seemed to be swimming in despair, and then cleared her throat. "'Drowning alone'," she added thoughtfully.

"Well, that's something," Austin said, tipping his head to the side. "Let's see… When someone's drowning, how do you generally save them? I mean, you can jump into the water and pull them out, like a lifesaver or something. Maybe, 'and you need a lifesaver'?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "No offence, Austin, but that's not metaphorical enough. What other ways are there to save a drowning person?"

He hummed, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration. "Um… I took a livesaving course once, dammit, I should know this. Oh! You can chuck them a rope, or hold out a large stick or something for them to grab onto. Would that work? Is that _metaphorical_ enough for you?" He teased, eyebrows waggling.

She giggled, rolling her eyes and swatting him. "This song has to be perfect," she told him. "Okay, well, then I guess a drowning person – that's the person in need of a friend, are you keeping up Austin? – the drowning person needs somebody – that's the friend. _Are you keeping up, Austin?_ – the drowning person needs somebody to throw them a rope or a big stick or something and then pull them up to shore and save them. Metaphorically. Yes?"

"'And you need a rope that can pull you in,'?" Austin suggested, singing it vaguely to the tune of the song.

They high-fived, clearly pleased with their song writing abilities as they finished the verse. At the chorus, they decided they could come back to that later, since both were stumped, but had plenty of ideas for the next verse, and the bridge. All that remained to write was the chorus, and they sat in silence for a little while as they tried to come up with lyrics on their own, neither of them talking as they lost themselves in their own thoughts. It was already almost four – Ally could see that Austin's eyelids were drooping and that he was starting to yawn. Since Ally was more accustomed to staying up late to finish a song, she figured she would let him have a break.

"You can go to sleep, if you want," she suggested in a businesslike manner after a few more minutes of silence, attempting to mask the sadness she felt at the prospect of having to finish this by herself.

His eyes fluttered shut for a moment, and when he opened them again, she was surprised to find that they were glistening with unshed tears. Without a word, she wrapped a tiny arm around his broad shoulders and pulled him into her, the other hand flying up to gently stroke his hair. She kissed the top of his head, right where his hair met his forehead, and then rested her chin on top of his head while her fingers threaded through his hair and massaged his scalp lightly. The arm around his shoulders slid down to rub his back in a soothing motion, and although he was a lot bigger than she was, she felt as though she could wrap him in her arms and protect him from the world, to be the best friend that he so desperately needed when he couldn't even find solace in music. It was clear that he was still upset about Piper – after all, they had been dating for two years and had only broken up _four hours ago_ – but she had thought that perhaps music and friendship would be enough to distract him. It seemed that the lull in their song-writing had been too long a silence, too long for his thoughts to start attacking him, to wonder what he could have done to make Piper happy, or what he could have done to show her that he loved her, or what would have happened if they had just talked about serious issues when they first arose, instead of throwing them under a rug and letting them grow in the dark like mould.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his arms coming up to wrap around her waist as he turned his nose back into her neck. He breathed deeply, and the thought crossed her mind that perhaps he was _smelling_ her, as though he found her smell reassuring, as though it were comforting to know she was just _there_ for him, that there was somebody in New York who didn't hate him, when all his family and friends were scattered around in Miami and LA.

Ally rolled her eyes and continued to rub his back soothingly. "Don't be ridiculous," she murmured. "You can cry, Austin. Don't bottle this up. If you need to cry, my shoulder is literally right under your nose. It's okay."

He nodded, and she could feel his tears smearing against the skin of her neck and the collar of her baggy t-shirt, his shoulders shaking slightly as he broke down for the second time that night. It occurred to her that perhaps _this_ was what he was afraid of – once, on a misty Wednesday afternoon, they had been chatting amicably in the café and asked each other what they were each afraid of. She had confided in him that she used to have _horrible_ stage fright, but now she was able to sort of perform without feeling _too_ anxious, and he had said that he was afraid of thunderstorms. But now, however, she wondered if there was more than that. If the reason he was afraid of thunderstorms wasn't because of the thunder and lightning – although, that did play a factor in it – but because thunderstorms were _noisy_ and they were filled with _crashes_ and _bangs_ and other confronting noises. He was constantly playing music, constantly tapping his fingers against tables or humming some obscure tune. He loved to talk – while she was infamous for rambling, he was the sort to continuously talk – he had some _insane_ ability to keep up a conversation comfortably _forever_. It occurred to Ally that he was constantly making some sort of quiet, gentle noise in the background, as though the silence or gentle murmuring soothed him – or because yelling and crying terrified the shit out of him.

Austin Moon was afraid of confrontation.

And he had just had the most confronting experience of his life with someone he loved.

"You must think I'm ridiculous, or something," he muttered, pulling back slightly. Her hand fell from his head into her lap, but her other arm remained around his waist, and likewise his around hers. He attempted to give her a watery smile, and his breath smelled like toothpaste. She was certain that hers smelled like pickles. "I mean, I'm a grown man and I'm _crying_. It's like – I don't know, I should be smiling. I'm making _music_ , and that – that should be making me _happy_. Yet here I am, I'm crying, and it just – and I just…"

Ally shushed him with a finger to his lips. "I'll do the smiling for both of us," she told him, a cheery grin spreading over her features. "And until you can smile again, you know that you can always – _always_ – come to me. With anything, okay?"

He laughed slightly, a sad little chuckle filtering through his tears, but the point was that he managed a small smile. Ally grinned back at him and kissed his forehead, before pinching his cheeks.

"There's that smile," she cooed in a baby voice, doing her best imitation of his mother.

"Hah, hah, very funny," Austin quipped back, dripping with sarcasm.

A thought suddenly occurred to Ally, and she grabbed her pen. "Wait, those could make great lyrics," she said, writing something rapidly into her book.

Austin's eyes widened, and he nodded as well, placing his hands over the keys of the keyboard and playing the chorus. " _There's that smile, hah, hah, very funny_ ," he sang, looking pleased with himself.

"What? No, that's not what I meant," Ally said, shaking her head. She nudged him over so that she could play the piano and sang the lyrics that she had just written. " _If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder; if you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile. If you wanna fly, I will be your sky – anything you need that's what I'll be… You can come to me._ "

An impossibly wide, genuine smile spread over Austin's features as she sang. When she finished, she bit her lip and looked at him shyly. She had always valued his opinion, and since playing her music for him was like baring a part of her soul, she felt incredibly vulnerable. The rest of the song had been a team effort, but these lyrics were all her – they were everything she felt for the unlikely friendship that they had formed. It was the only way to describe the way she was inexplicably drawn to his smile; his laugh; the way he looked at her. When he smiled again and nodded approvingly, a hand over his heart as though he wanted to take it out of his chest and place it in her hands as a symbol of their friendship, an excited grin wormed its way onto her face and she squealed.

"It's done!" She said, dancing in her seat. She threw her arms around his neck and turned her face into his chest, shoulders shaking with laughter. Ally was filled with glee, her entire body numb and tingling, giddy with happiness.

At first, Austin seemed slightly surprised by the sudden hug, but he relaxed as his arms looped around her waist. Both of them were twisted at a weird angle in order to accommodate for the hug without getting up from their seat, yet neither of them made any attempt to move. She felt him hesitate for a moment before he nestled his face against her hair, and she heard him take a deep breath.

And they stayed like that, for just a little bit longer.

* * *

"Who's on the recording with you?" Ronnie asked.

Ally blinked. She had just shown him the demo of the song, and had apologised for the quality of the recording since she had had to shake Austin awake after only a few hours of sleep, and get him to help her record it. Out of all the things she had expected him to say after she had played the recording for him, that question hadn't been one of them. The thought had never occurred to her that perhaps Ronnie would wonder who the person doing the duet with her was, especially considering that Austin had mainly sung the harmony and Ally had done most of the melody.

"That's my friend," Ally said, tapping the disc. "His name is Austin. Austin Moon. He also played the guitar part," she added. Since it had only been a demo, the only other instrument on the recording besides the guitar, and their voices, was the piano. She had shown Ronnie the sheet music for the other instrumental parts.

Ronnie looked intrigued. "Austin Moon, huh? Nice name. Is that a stage name, or is that his actual name?"

"Actual name."

"Hm. Well, the song is great – as usual, Ally." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Find out if this _Austin Moon_ wants to do the official recording."

A gleeful look passed over Ally's features, and she nodded rapidly. "Okay!"

"But –" Ronnie said, holding up a finger to motion she wait. "Only if _you_ do the duet with him."

 _Not this again,_ Ally thought. Ronnie had been trying to get Ally to sign onto the label as a singer since the moment she had joined. He somewhat thought of her as a daughter, and he had always encouraged her to share her voice with the world as well as her music. Each time she gave him a demo of the song, he had asked if she wanted a record deal. Each time, she had declined and told him that she just felt nervous performing in front of people. He had promised that she had a spot on his label the minute she got over her stage fright. It wasn't just about putting out albums – she would have to perform them live, go to CD signings, and she wouldn't be able to stand in the background and smile shyly when the artist who sang her songs motioned to her and said that she was the mind behind the brilliant songs.

"I – I mean, I'll ask him about it," she said, biting her lip. She didn't want to be the reason that Austin didn't get his 'big break'.

"Great!" Ronnie nodded. "I'm going to need the rest of the album in a month and a half," he said.

They continued on the rest of the meeting as scheduled, until Ally's stomach growled loudly enough to warrant a sheepish grin and an amused smile from Ronnie. He dismissed her, and she left, yet her mind was still whirling. Would she be able to get over her stage fright long enough to let Austin get his album?

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since Austin had unofficially moved in with her, and almost two weeks since her meeting with Ronnie Ramone. Ally still referred to the bedroom he was staying in as _the guest bedroom_ , but she had noticed that he was beginning to refer to it as _his_ room. She found that she didn't really mind.

Living with Austin hadn't been like anything she had imagined. She had imagined him to be messy and annoying, and stay up to all sorts of hours of the night watching Netflix and insisting she join him. She had expected every night to be a songwriting session to the point where she would want a break from music, because realistically speaking, even _she_ couldn't handle her favourite hobby _every single day._ She had thought he would pester her for help with his university assignments, and that he would eat her food and leave the dishes in the sink without putting them in the dishwasher.

It wasn't that he didn't do all those things. He did, and it annoyed her greatly. But, there were perks to living with Austin, little things she hadn't thought he would do – or hadn't thought she would appreciate.

His room was a mess, but he always made an effort to keep the living room tidy. He didn't force her to stay up late with him, and he didn't seem to mind when she stayed up late to finish writing a song even though it meant that he had to listen to her playing miscellaneous instruments until all hours of the night. Despite the fact that working on her music almost every night was getting tedious and boring, her productivity was up – she had been able to present Ronnie with four more songs for the album in just the two weeks that she and Austin had been working together. He pestered her for help with his university assignments, but he didn't mind picking her up from MUNY on the days when their schedules didn't clash – which meant that she didn't have to find a place to park her car. He ate constantly, and it seemed as though there was never a moment that he wasn't eating, but he knew the basics of cooking and always made sure she ate dinner, when she would have previously forgotten about it whilst working on a university assignment or writing songs for Ronnie.

All in all, Ally found that she quite enjoyed living with Austin. But what she did _not_ enjoy was the fact that he was still so upset about Piper that he _refused_ to leave the apartment, except to go to university or to drive her somewhere. (Even though Ally could drive, she preferred not to.) When she had asked him to go grocery shopping with her, he had refused to leave the car and sat in there while she did the shopping by herself, and then drove her home.

The sweatpants were the most annoying.

All day long, Austin would lounge around in his sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt. He would eat Cheetos and take up the _whole_ couch and he would watch bad reality TV shows _all day_. Sometimes, he would forgo the shirt entirely, and she mentally cursed the fact that she found it _attractive_ , to see him lounging around comfortably in her apartment, with those low-hanging sweatpants of his and _no freaking shirt_ and – gosh, she felt like a hormonal teenager, because she _didn't_ like him _like that_ , but it was _impossible_ to deny that her best friend was an incredibly attractive male – and – and _there was an incredibly attractive male lounging around shirtless in her home_.

She noticed that he was _always_ surrounded with food, as if he were trying to fill the absence of Piper with food – _how on earth did he have such a perfectly sculpted six-pack if he was constantly eating?_ Ally had also noticed that whenever she put out vegetables with dinner, he would get a little bit teary-eyed and petulantly refuse to eat them. (Although, she really did think he needed vegetables, so she often disguised the vegetables in a stew of some sort, or covered them in cheese.)

The worst part was that Austin had skipped his gig at the café for the past two weeks. He claimed that he would only sing sad, pathetic love songs, and bum off everybody in the café, so Cassidy had been filling in for him. The strawberry-blonde had told Ally that she didn't _mind_ filling in for him, but Ally could tell that Cassidy was struggling to maintain the gigs at the café, as well as her barista job, university _and_ her own band, which performed regularly elsewhere.

Ally had a game plan. It was Operation Get-Austin-Out-Of-Those- _Damn_ -Sweatpants-And-Maybe-Get-Him-Into-A-Freaking- _Shirt_ -And-Then-Get-Him-Down-To-The-Coffee-Shop.

The first part of the game plan was to drop the hint.

"Hey, Austin," she greeted casually, on a cool Monday evening. She was lounging around in her favourite unicorn-themed pyjamas, the one with the _MUNYcorn_ shirt, and Austin had just walked in.

"Hey," he grunted back, clearly tired after his day of university. As usual, he made a beeline for the kitchen, kicking off his shoes and socks and discarding his leather jacket on one of the chairs as he walked past.

With a little, exasperated sigh, Ally slid off the couch and followed him into the kitchen, hugging herself as she leaned against the door frame. A small part of her knew that if she just told Austin what Ronnie had suggested, he would be elated – but that was the second part of the game plan. She would tell him eventually. Austin was oblivious to her presence, as he silently moved around her kitchen and got out the milk and cereal.

"How was your day?" She asked politely, her gaze following the flow of milk as he poured it into the bowl.

"Same as usual," he responded dully.

She had really thought that he would be feeling better by now, but it seemed that each day without Piper only made him feel worse and worse. Ally _knew_ that getting him down to his regular gig in the café would make him feel better.

"Aren't you gonna ask how mine was? I asked you how _yours_ was," She pointed out, rocking back and forth on her heels. When he looked up at her with an eyebrow raised, clearly unimpressed, she flashed him an angelic smile.

"Cheeky, cheeky," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Grumpy, grumpy," Ally mocked.

The muscles in his cheek twitched as he attempted to supress his smile, but it became increasingly obvious that she had cheered him up, at least somewhat. This made _her_ happy, since it meant that she was doing the job of the 'best friend' correctly.

"Okay, fine, Ally. How was your day?" He asked.

"Glad you asked," she teased, and her own smile broadened when he chuckled and grinned. "I was down at the café today, and Cassidy was on her shift."

"So?"

Ally shrugged, and looked down, playing with the tips of her hair. "She was so good today," she said dreamily, looking up at Austin and adopting a look of love-struck awe. "I even heard Miss Suzy say that she might ask Cassidy to take up the gig permanently."

Miss Suzy was the owner of the café, and she was a very pleasant woman. In all actuality, Ally had heard her say nothing of the sort – in fact, Miss Suzy hadn't even been in the café that day, but she knew that the second _his_ gig was threatened, Austin would get jealous.

As predicted, the blond snapped his head up, his attention no longer on the bowl of cereal in front of me. " _What_?"

Ally attempted to remain passive, as though she were truly just proud of her friend. "I think this is _so great_ for Cassidy," she gushed. She placed her palms on the counter and leaned over it, motioning that he come closer as though she were telling him a secret.

Austin leaned forward, a confused look on his face. "What?" He said.

"I think that Cassidy is planning on going solo. She'll still be in her band and stuff but – I think she's planning on trying to make it in the music industry as a solo artist," she whispered conspiratorially. "And coffee shop gigs are great places to get discovered at," she added.

His nostrils flared, and Ally knew that her plan had been a success. He was jealous of the idea that Cassidy might get discovered, and he might not, because he was too busy moping over his failed relationship. "I'm _better_ than Cassidy," he growled. "Coffee shop gigs are _not_ the place to get discovered.

Ally shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back. "I guess we'll never know whether or not they are, since you never go down there and play anymore."

He opened his mouth to retort, but he seemed to realise that Ally was purposefully manipulating his emotions to help him get better. He leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, before he shook his head. She was surprised to find that he was _smiling_.

"You sly fox," he said, rolling his eyes. He picked up his bowl of cereal and carried it over to the couch, before sitting down. He put his legs up, taking up the whole couch. "Very clever, Dawson. I see what you're doing."

"What am I doing?" Ally asked innocently, following him to the couch and sitting on the armrest beside his feet, since he was taking up the whole couch.

"You're trying to make me jealous that Cassidy's been filling in for me. You think I'm worried that she'll get the gig permanently."

She held her hands up in surrender and smiled at him. "Well, she might," Ally pointed out. "I just think that – never mind, I mean, it's just… I just think you should go back, okay? If you don't go back soon, they really are going to find a replacement for you."

Austin sighed and set his empty cereal bowl down on the coffee table, before rolling onto his stomach. "I don't wanna perform," he stated petulantly, his voice slightly muffled by the couch cushions. "I wanna stay here all day and think about Piper."

Ally rolled her eyes and shoved his foot. "You know that performing always makes you feel better," she pointed out.

With a little groan, Austin rolled over again, lying on his back with an arm draped dramatically over his face. "All I want to do is be a lazy shit who can't even enjoy his hobbies, and you're not even letting me do that, Alls."

"Lazy shits don't get pancakes."

"Ugh."

Ally giggled and smiled at him, shaking her head slightly. He still had his arm draped over his face, so he couldn't see her, but she could see him smiling from under his arm. "C'mon, Aus," she coaxed gently. "I just want to help you feel better, and I know that performing makes you happy. _You_ know that performing makes you happy," she said carefully. She was trying to avoid saying that she was trying to help him get over Piper, because at this point in time, he didn't _want_ to be over Piper – he wanted to be _happy_ , and Ally only wanted to see him continuing with his life as normal.

"I hate it when you're right," Austin sighed, before he moved his arm from over his eyes. He offered her a weak smile.

Ally stood from the arm rest and then grabbed the empty bowl off the coffee table. "I'm always right. And now, I have successfully fulfilled the role of your _best friend_ , meaning that I'm officially better than Dez," she informed him with a grin, before taking the bowl into the kitchen and leaving it in the sink. She would do the dishes later.

"You're such a loser," Austin groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes dramatically again as she entered the living room once more.

"Hey! Rude!" Ally said, stomping over to him and poking him sharply in the side. He let out a loud _giggle_ , and then poked her back.

And just like that, the tickle war began.

As soon as she saw the glint in Austin's eyes, she knew what was coming. She squealed and ran from the couch, leaping over the coffee table.

"You look like a baby gazelle," he called out to her, keeling over in laughter. Ally used this opportunity to dart back over to him and tickle him, which only caused him to laugh harder and keel over even more until he was on his knees. "No more, no more," he laughed.

"I win!" Ally declared, doing a little dance in her spot. She spun around, still dancing as Austin panted and recovered from the intense tickling. "Woo!"

Eventually, Austin caught his breath, and he stood up, dusting off his jeans and sticking his tongue out. "You did _not_ win," he said, and a positively wicked smirk spread over his face.

"Excuse me? You were begging me to stop. That means I _win_ ," Ally said, wriggling her fingers menacingly in his face.

"Oh, but it's not over," he said, before his fingers were suddenly on her sides, tickling her up and down.

" _Shit_ ," Ally laughed, before she wriggling out of his grasp and galloped away again, once more like a demented baby gazelle.

She made it all of two steps before Austin laughed and caught up with her easily, his arms wrapping around her waist from behind before he lifted her as though she weighed nothing at all. Ally squealed, laughing even harder as he spun her around, his strong arms securely around her waist, and his chest heaving against her back as he laughed. The next thing Ally knew, she was lying on her back on the couch, with Austin on top of her and his fingers attacking her sides mercilessly.

" _Stahp_ ," Ally laughed, before she _snorted_ , and Austin's smile seemed to grow even more.

"Nope!" He said cheekily. "Not until you admit that _I_ win."

"I admit that _I_ win," she giggled childishly.

"No!" He said, shaking his head. He hovered her, an arm braced over her head to hold up his body, and the other hand running up and down her side to tickle her, and the rest of his body rested gently against hers, pinning her legs to the couch so that she couldn't move away. "Admit that _I_ , as in _me_ , as in _Austin Moon_ , win, and then I'll let you go."

She shook her head, unable to form words when she was laughing so hard. She squirmed around, but only succeeded in wriggling further under his body, her shirt riding up slightly and exposing her stomach. Before either of them could register what was happening, his tickling finger were on the bare skin of her waist and all of sudden neither of them were laughing anymore. She felt his fingertips still, cold against the warm skin of her waist, and she thought he was going to move his hand away, but he surprised her when he slowly traced his fingertips from the side of her waist towards her bellybutton. His eyes met hers as he flattened his palm against her stomach, and she was almost ashamed at how heavily she was breathing. Ally shivered as his cold fingers delicately spread over her stomach, pressing gently into her skin as though he were afraid of breaking her. His eyes were dark and intense, his attention never wavering from her eyes as she struggled to maintain the intense eye contact. When his hand had completely spread over her stomach, spanning over almost her entire stomach, he finally drew his eyes away from hers and looked down curiously at his hand.

"You're so fucking _tiny_ ," he whispered in awe. She almost didn't hear him.

"Yeah," she breathed back, looking down at his large hand on her stomach. She knew he could feel her, her stomach moving slightly with each laboured breath. She felt his fingertips dig into her stomach momentarily before he withdrew his hand.

Austin cleared his throat and she flicked her gaze back up to meet his, before offering him a small smile. The look of intensity on his face gradually dissipated and he smiled back at her, before he grabbed the hem of her shirt and gently tugged it back over her stomach. Then, he looked at her with so much affection in his expression that Ally was positive she would _burst_.

"Roll over," he said, and he rolled onto his side, being careful not to roll off of the couch.

Ally shuffled so that she was on her side as well, wedged between the back of the couch and Austin's warm body . He slid his hand from her shoulder to the tips of her hair, twirling the ends with his fingers as looked down at her.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"For what?" She asked back, looking confused.

An easy grin spread over his face, before his hand moved from her hair to her back, pulling her into him for a hug. "For being my best friend even though I've been a mopey piece of shit recently," he murmured gently against the top of her head, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "Really. And for letting me stay in your apartment. And for feeding me and making sure I stay healthy. And for reminding me that I love performing. I will – I will go down to the coffee shop. I'll call Miss Suzy and tell her that I'll take the gig next week. Thank you."

Ally smiled and nuzzled her face into his chest. "You're welcome."

She felt him smile against her hair, and she wrapped her arms around him as well, content to stay like that. He continued to rub her back, and at some point, she fell asleep, the dishes in the sink long forgotten.

* * *

The second part of the game plan was to inspire Austin.

The Thursday afternoon before his regular gig at the coffee shop, Ally found herself sitting in Austin's favourite booth – which just so happened to be _her_ favourite booth, as well – enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate as Austin talked about the university lecturer that always seemed to be eating during his lectures. It apparently made it very hard to concentrate on modes and chordal progressions when the lecturer was snacking on nachos. She was waiting for an opportunity to put the second part of her game plan into action.

Her opportunity came walking over in the form of a brown-haired male with a heart-stopping smile and a sweet nature. "Austin!" Elliot greeted, having just walked into the café. He was holding his bag, and it was apparent that he had been about to enter the 'employees only' room to get ready for his shift. "I haven't seen you in _ages_."

He and Austin slipped into an easy conversation, catching up over the two weeks that Austin hadn't been there. Elliot was sympathetic when Austin mentioned that he and Piper had broken up, and somehow they got onto the topic of whether or not Austin was performing tomorrow. Before Austin could confirm that he was, in fact, performing tomorrow, Cassidy called out to them from behind the counter.

"I'd like to get off my shift _today_ , Elliot," she said impatiently, clearly eager to turn the counter over to him so that she could go home.

"Right. Sorry, Cassidy," he apologised, waving awkwardly. He turned around and smiled at Austin and Ally. "I'll catch you later. It was awesome seeing you again, Aus," he said, giving the blond a high five. "Hey, Ally, I'll text you later?" He said, turning to her with an enthusiastic smile.

Ally nodded, equally enthusiastic. "Yeah. Bye, Elliot!" She chirped, waving at him as he disappeared into the 'employees only' room. Although she and Elliot texted quite frequently, it occurred to her that they had never really hung out outside of the coffee shop. She liked him a lot, but she didn't _know_ anything about him – it was more of an infatuation, then anything. If he asked her out, she would definitely say 'yes', but Ally thought that perhaps there was not a lot that they shared in common.

Although, his incredibly cute butt made her wonder if relationships _really_ needed 'substance'.

When she glanced up and saw Austin happily stirring his drink and humming to himself, she was reminded of her game plan. She cleared her throat and he looked up at her with a questioning look on his face.

"Ronnie wants to meet you," Ally said in as casual a tone as she could muster. "I told him that you would be performing tomorrow," she added.

Austin stared at her. "Are you – are you _serious_?" He asked her.

She nodded and did a little dance in her seat. "Yay!" She cheered.

"Ally – he – he wants to meet _me_? Ronnie Ramone wants to meet _me_? A record label owner _wants to meet me_?"

Ally nodded again and grinned. "He heard you on the demo I showed him. 'You Can Come to Me', that one," she said. "He really liked the song and he said that he wanted to meet you, to see if you were 'his kind of guy'. If he likes you, he might sign you to his label. At least, I mean, for one album," she said. "But he has one condition and –"

Austin cut her off, and grabbed her hands suddenly. "Thank you so much, Ally," he breathed. "I am _so_ grateful. This is just so – so unexpected. I know you would have come tomorrow, anyway, but I want you to sit near the stage. As my little good luck charm," he said.

"Well – I mean – if you want me to," she said, blushing slightly.

"You're actually the best," he said, pulling her hands towards his lips. He kissed her hands, and then smiled at her, positively glowing. "You're the bestest best friend ever."

He continued to talk about how great she was, and how excited he was to perform for Ronnie. There was not a single moment where Ally thought that he was perhaps _using_ her to get on Ronnie's label, since he had never asked her to talk to Ronnie about him, nor had he implied that Ronnie only wanted to see him because he was friends with Ally – and in that moment, she knew that Austin was genuinely her friend because he enjoyed being with her, not because she was friends with a record label owner. Ally's phone rang and cut him off mid-sentence; it was Ronnie himself, calling to finalise details with her about where the café was and what time he should be there, and then finished up by asking her to come into the office to discuss technicalities of her most recent songs. She bid farewell to Austin, promising to come home in time for dinner. It was only when she was halfway to Ronnie's office that she realised that she hadn't told Austin that he would only get the record deal if she was willing to do the album with him.

 _Crap_.

* * *

The third, and final, part of the game plan was to make Austin's dreams come true and help him to move on with his life without Piper in it.

Ally sat in the table beside the small, makeshift stage that Austin always performed on. She had politely asked his gaggle of fans to move to another table, and then whispered to them that Ronnie was a record producer. This had been enough to make them migrate to a different table, and Ronnie had joined Ally once he entered the café and spotted her near the stage. Throughout Austin's set, Ronnie continuously asked her questions about the blond, and she tried her best to answer as many as possible.

When Austin was packing up, after his set, Ronnie stood from his spot and walked towards him, before tapping him on the shoulder. Austin whirled around so quickly that he almost knocked the record producer over with his guitar case, and then began to apologise profusely. Ally quickly walked over to the pair before either of them could react properly.

"So! Ronnie, this is Austin Moon – singer, dancer, and co-songwriter. Austin, this is Ronnie Ramone, owner of Ramone Records," she explained, attempting to smooth things over with an introduction before Austin could do any further damage. "Why don't we go sit down?" She suggested.

The two men nodded at her, and Ally offered to take the guitar from Austin. He gave it to her gratefully, clearly worried that he would knock Ronnie once more. Once they were settled in the booth, they began to discuss things, and Ally sat there quietly as Ronnie asked Austin the standard questions he normally asked in a job interview.

"Right, well, I think you're exactly the sort of artist we're looking for. If Ally agrees, then I might sign you onto my label," Ronnie mused, stroking his chin. He looked at Ally. "Have you considered my proposition?" He asked her.

"What proposition?" Austin asked curiously.

" _Nothing_ ," Ally hissed, glaring at Ronnie.

Ronnie rolled his eyes, and ignored Austin. "Well? Have you? Your friend's career possibly hangs in the balance," he said, coaxing her gently.

She knew what he was doing. She knew that he had her best interests at heart. But she was – she was too _damn_ nervous to get her own record deal. She was perfectly content with just being a songwriter, but Ronnie knew she could be so much more and so he had always pushed her to the limit – even that meant pushing her over the cliff of her stage fright in an attempt to cure it.

"What proposition?" Austin repeated.

Ally sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. "Ronnie told me that he would sign you, but on the condition that I do the duet with you."

Austin's eyes widened, and he looked between Ally and Ronnie Ramone. "I – I – really?"

Ronnie turned to Austin and nodded. "If you can convince her to join you, then the both of you will be on my label."

"I'll – I'll do it," Ally interjected quickly, clearing her throat. "I mean – it – it can't be _that_ hard, can it?"

"Thatta girl," Ronnie praised, looking pleased with his favourite employee.

"Ally, are you sure?" Austin asked, looking concerned. He knew about her stage fright. Heck, Ronnie knew about her stage fright – but Ronnie was trying to help her get over it, and Austin was trying not to force her into anything.

"I mean – I mean, it can't be _that_ hard to perform in front of a group of – of _trained professionals_ , who _exist_ to make you feel bad about your musical talent and – and to have it _workshopped_ all day until I get it right and – and watching large crowds filled with judgemental people just watching you and — and—" She broke off, beginning to hyperventilate. She was feeling uneasy with the situation, knowing that she couldn't selfishly say she would never perform, otherwise she would just be taking away Austin's chance at being signed onto Ronnie's label and – and – and oh _gosh_ , she didn't want to be a bad friend but she – she _couldn't_ perform in front of people, because they – she barely made it into MUNY! She _scraped_ by, only got in because her grades were impeccable and – and was it getting hot in here?

"Ally," Ronnie said quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to," he said, although he sounded disappointed. She knew that he wanted her on his label, badly, but she was just – afraid. He looked at Austin and sighed. "You're very talented, Mr Moon, but I was really hoping that Ally could join you for the duet. Without her on the album, I'm afraid I'm not interested in signing a new contact – I already have several other artists on the label who have shown an interest in the song."

"I'm sorry, Ronnie," she said softly. "I'll – I'll get over it. I'll do it. I can handle this."

Austin was looking at her with concern. He cleared his throat and looked between the two of them before he sighed. "Thank you for your time, Mr Ramone," Austin said politely. "I hope you'll keep me in mind if you want to sign a new artist."

Ronnie stood and nodded to the pair before exiting. Ally watched helplessly as her boss left and Austin was left without a record deal.

"No, Austin, c'mon, I'll do it," she said, turning large doe eyes on him. "This is a major opportunity for you! I don't wanna—"

He cut her off with a finger to her lips. "Ally. I'd rather not have a record deal if it means you have to do something you're not comfortable with," he told her earnestly. "Besides, you heard Mr Ramone. I'm really talented! This is going to happen for me, and next time it won't put you in a compromising position."

Ally felt her heart swell, and she smiled gratefully at him. "I – thank you, Austin," she whispered. Something about the way he was looking at her so tenderly, as though he wanted to protect her from the real world because _she_ was his world – and she found she really didn't mind _being_ his world, not when his finger moved from her lips to gently push a strand of hair away from her face. The moment was too fast and too slow at the same time, because realistically she knew it only took a few seconds to push hair away from her face, but it felt as though they were the only two people in that café. It suddenly didn't matter to her that Elliot had sent her a cute selfie earlier, or that he looked _especially_ handsome in his uniform today – all that mattered was the sweet blond in front of her who had just given up his dream because he didn't want to put her in a confronting experience. Because he cared about her, and he wasn't using her to get onto Ronnie's label, and he was her best friend and – oh _gosh_ , she realised something incredibly important that made her heart twist and her stomach clench and all she knew was that she just _had_ to talk to Trish.

When she got home later, she dialled the familiar number and waited for Trish to answer.

 _Ring._

 _Ring._

 _Ring._

"Hello?"

"Hey, Trish, it's me," Ally said, sounding mildly distressed.

"Ally? Are you alright?" Trish asked, sounding concerned. "Because you normally don't call me unless it's something urgent or if we planned to call each other and—"

Ally cut Trish off, which in itself was a demonstration of how urgent this was, because Ally Dawson was polite and never, _ever_ interrupted others.

"Trish. I think I _like_ Austin."

* * *

 **A/N: Eeeeeee! How was that?! Was it worth the wait?! IDK. I love you all, and I'll try not to take too long with the next update omg.**

 **(Also, I rarely ever proof read so I do apologise for any typos. Occasionally I re-read these things and then notice the errors but whateverrr.)**

 **Replies to you lovely reviewers!:**

 **PrincessVenture:** Ahhh, really? I'm glad I was able to maintain a sense of realism, because that's really what I'm aiming for. I'm super happy that you enjoyed it and found it realistic!

 **Samlie:** It made me want to write a nerd!Austin fic tbh. Also plS I'M BLUSHING. I feel as though we're equally in awe of each other xD I really seriously thought that I'd keep this particular fic completely in his POV, but I couldn't resist doing this chapter in Ally's, just because I felt as though she needed a little bit less of a mystery surrounding her. Plus I don't like writing a lot of angsty "oh no my girlfriend broke up with me" feels, y'know?

 **Guest:** My ego says 'hello' right back at you!

 **Lookin' For Treble:** THIS IS SO COOL BECAUSE I'M YOUR FAN AND YOU'RE MY FAN WTF. Ahhhhh, I'm so incredibly happy you enjoyed it, and I hope this chapter was just as good as the rest! It was mainly Austin-and-Ally centric, not much mention of the other characters, but it's still a fun chapter I PROMISE

 **LoveShipper:** Oh yes, it definitely made sense. On one hand, I was like "MY BABY AUSTIN IS SO UPSET" but on the other, I'm like "Yessss I don't have to write Ausper anymore" because honestly I just don't enjoy that ship

 **Angie123454321:** YASS AUSLLY

 **cornyshor:** Aw, shucks! I'm having all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings now. I'm so glad you like the story!

 **J:** You're silly!

 **AusllyKids:** Maybe each chapter will get better and better ;) I hope you aren't too disappointed that I wrote this chapter in Ally's POV instead of keeping it in Austin's, but I kind of felt like this chapter worked best in her POV.

 **Lollypop:** Omg you're so cute pls let me love you

 **Elizabeth:** Ack! You're so sweet! I have another story in the works, and hopefully that one will be just as good as this one (apparently) is!

 **HeartSoulForever:** Tangled is my favourite movie too! TWINSIES. Psh, _gurl_ , I'm blushing. I hope this chapter was good tooo yaaaay!

 **maddiegirl56:** And I love YOU!

 **Maz:** Seriously, it makes me so happy to hear that I haven't made this cliché because I don't like it when stories are horribly predictable. And yeah, Piper was super cool in the actual show so I figured she'd be cool in this too! I hope that the build-up to Ally liking him wasn't _too_ rushed, but squeeeee! She likes him! AHHHH!

 **lubi7:** I hope this chapter REELED YOU IN! Hah, geddit? That was a fishing pun.

 **YoungANDWild255:** Omg no pls I wasn't mad at you! You're lovely, and you're one of my favourite reviewers. I always get happy when I see that you've reviewed! Aw shucks, I'm super pumped that you enjoyed that chapter, and I hope this one was just as good.

 **Auslly's Octuplets:** Yeah, Austin is quite immature. Dez and Trish are so much fun to write! I really hope I have more opportunity to write about them soon.

 **MusicLover4Life23:** Well, if you liked that chapter because it was long, then I KNOW you liked this chapter omg.

 **causemydarlingyoudrivemecrazy:** I love YOU so much!

 **ROTBTDreader:** Eeeeee! I'm blushin.

 **Chubby bunny:** Oh my! You did quite a bit of reading, m'love! That was one of my favourite parts, too. And psh! How did you know I wanted to be an author?!

 **Auslly lover:** pls you're so cute


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: lol**

 **Word Count: 9003**

 **A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely maddiegirl56 and Aznmissy04 because they are both absolute** _ **gems**_ **.**

* * *

There were a few things in life that Austin could never get enough of.

The first and foremost thing, was the gentle clapping and quiet murmur after his set, his senses overwhelmed with the smell of coffee and the taste of talent.

The second, and perhaps the most important thing, was the taste of pancakes. There was just something about the fluffy nature of the pancake, as his knife glided through it and the maple syrup soaked through, creating small, circular glimpses into heaven.

The third and most frequent thing was Ally Dawson's smile.

It seemed that no matter how often she smiled – which was a lot, because Austin had noticed that she seemed to be constantly smiling – he would never get sick of it. He would never tire of the way her nose crinkled cutely, or the way the corners of her lips would slowly turn upward, her smile slowly growing until it reached a point where it would suddenly light up her entire face, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks puffed up with excitement. Even before he had grown fond of her, he had always found himself impossibly drawn to her smile, and as he got to know her better and better, he was beginning to realise that she had different smiles for different occasions.

His favourite was the Excited Smile.

She seemed to smile that one the most. When she spoke about anything she had a passion for, or even just talking about something exciting that had happened that day, her face would light up and her cheeks would puff out. Her nose would crinkle, eyes shining with laughter and every single one of her pearly white teeth showing. Austin liked that one the best. It made him feel alive.

His least favourite was the Forced Smile.

She often wore this when she was talking about something she found unpleasant. It was still cute, but it wasn't _real_ and Austin felt a little bit sad every time he saw her force that smile. It was a vapid imitation of her excited smile, and while her cute little nose would crinkle and all of her pearly white teeth would show, he noticed that her cheeks didn't puff out and that her eyes seemed dull. Austin noticed that she often wore this smile when he lamented over his failed relationship with Piper or when girls in his gaggle of fans flirted with him – he deduced that it was because she hated seeing him sad and distressed (he _really_ didn't like it when they flirted with him).

Without a doubt, though, the sexiest smile was the Sarcastic Smile.

Her eyes would glitter with mirth, and the corners of her lips would twist up almost unnaturally, and an utterly amused expression would take over her features. She would often gesture with her hands, as though to say _'oh, Austin, what are we going to do with you?_ ' He liked that. He liked that a lot.

The smile that Austin hadn't seen often, but _definitely_ wanted to see more of, was the Sleepy Smile. It was, perhaps, the cutest smile he had ever seen in all twenty-one years of his life.

He was fortunate enough that he was seeing it at that very moment, as she yawned and snuggled into his chest. They had been watching a Disney movie – Ally's choice – to celebrate the success of her most recent album. Ally had come home that day with the Excited Smile spread over her features, declaring that it had been the _best day ever_ at work, since Ronnie had finally told her which lucky artist was going to record her newest album and that it was some famous boyband that she absolutely adored. Austin felt a glimmer of jealousy ripple through him every time she referred to the lead singer's 'chiselled abs' and 'amazing jawline'. What was his name? Ross Pinch? Riker Finch? He wasn't sure – there were at least five of them, and he had told Ally that she was lucky he even remembered those two. Nonetheless, she was glowing as she told him all about how she got to meet all five members, and how she and the only girl member of the band had exchanged numbers and planned on taking a shopping trip later. Unable to dampen her mood with his distinct jealousy of the band – R4Ever? R5? Some letter-number themed band name… – he simply grinned warmly at her and asked her in a silky voice _'so where am I taking you out for dinner? To celebrate, of course._ '

In fact, her Excited Smile grew even more when he asked that, and Austin was glad that he had been the one to put that smile there. He reflected thoughtfully that it was because for the first time in three months, he had offered to leave their apartment for something besides university or his gig at the café. He felt as though he were finally starting to move on with the remains of his heart, as though he could finally think about soft blonde hair and a dainty giggle without tears springing to his eyes. His heart still twisted when he smelled the ocean, or when he caught a glimpse of her in their apartment building, but slowly and surely, he was getting better.

He had taken Ally out to some weird diner that she insisted had the _best_ chicken pot pie, and all the servers had sung to them. They had spent the night in laughter and excitement, and Austin felt his heart swell every time her cheeks puffed out and her ungraceful laughter fell from those perfectly-shaped lips of hers.

When they had returned to their apartment – well, Ally still referred to it as _her_ apartment, but Austin liked to refer to it as _their_ apartment – she had immediately bounced away to call Trish and tell her the exciting news about R5 and Ronnie and her new album – and Austin had showered and gotten ready for bed. Somehow, Ally had intercepted him before his head hit the pillow. Somehow, she had gotten him to cuddle with her and watch some Disney princess movie that he secretly enjoyed. _Somehow_ , they had gotten into another tickle war, ending with him lying on his back on the couch and her lying on top of him, stars in her eyes and laughter in her voice.

Which was how Austin found himself with his legs strewn over the couch and his head leaning against the arm rest, with Ally's legs tangled with his and her face resting on his chest. He wasn't even able to look at the TV screen anymore, but he liked the feeling of having Ally so close, of feeling her considerably smaller body lying on top of his, with no space between them and her ear resting against his chest – _surely_ , she could hear the thumping of his heart?

The Sleepy Smile was really just the icing on the cake.

"Go to sleep," Austin laughed, after the millionth time that Ally attempted to stifle a yawn by turning her face into his chest. It was a dumb way to hide her yawn, he thought, since he could feel her warm breath spreading through his shirt anyway.

"No," Ally said stubbornly. "I'm not… I'm not ti—" she broke off with a yawn. "I'm _not_ tired. I'm gonna – I wanna maybe – I wanna, wanna, gonna, wanna finish watching this movie," she babbled, clearly incredibly tired.

After all, she _had_ had a very long day.

"You're tired," he responded bluntly, looking down at her.

Ally turned her head so that she was no longer looking at the TV and was now looking up at Austin. She placed a hand on his chest to prop herself up so that she could look at him properly, her legs tangling with his even further as his hands automatically moved to rest on her waist and keep her stable. She wasn't straddling him; she was in some weird, _cobra_ yoga pose on top of him.

"I'm _comfy_ ," she stated pointedly, narrowing her eyes.

"Then I'll just carry you to bed."

"If you move, you're going to wish you hadn't," she threatened.

Austin rolled his eyes and soothingly rubbed a hand over her back, coaxing her to relax against him again and relishing in the feeling of her warm body curled on top of his. "You're very scary," he mocked. "There's nothing scarier in this world than a cute girl snuggling up to you in freaking _Sesame Street_ pyjamas," he added dryly.

"Shut _up_ ," Ally whined, swatting his chest lightly.

He only chuckled in response, before he closed his eyes in content. His hands continued to rub up and down her back, and she let out a soft sigh of contentment – Austin made a mental note that Ally seemed to enjoy that. He wasn't sure _why_ he wanted to make her sigh like that again, or even why he was enjoying cuddling her and holding her so intimately, but he figured that it had been _two months_ since he had last held Piper in his arms like this and perhaps he had forgotten what it was like to have a beautiful woman in his arms. He didn't want to try to figure out what his feelings for Ally were, though – feelings were messy, messy things, and he was still in love with Piper, even if he _was_ beginning to feel _impossibly_ drawn to the brunette yawning against his chest. If he tried to sift through his feelings, to figure out what it was that made his heart pound and his entire day brighten the _second_ he saw Ally, he was scared that he would be in some _deep_ shit.

Because, the truth was, Austin simply wasn't ready to have another relationship yet. He was still getting over Piper, and he didn't think it would be fair to him or to Ally if he realised that he _liked_ her. Hence, he was still in that blissful stage of denial, where he insisted that Ally was his _best friend_ and nothing more, and purposefully ignored the niggling voice in the back of his head that told him that he would _never_ cuddle like this with _Dez_ , who was also his best friend. He purposefully ignored the fact that he never wanted to let Ally go. He purposefully ignored the fact that it _hurt_ every time she referred to _their_ apartment as _her_ apartment, because it meant that she didn't think of this as a permanent arrangement even though Austin had realised that it would be much easier to just move in with Ally than to find a new apartment. He hadn't told her that he hadn't gone apartment hunting yet – he thought that maybe, just maybe, she would never bring it up, and he could live with her for as long as possible. After their first month of living together, she had asked him how the apartment hunting was going – he had lied and said it was going well. After the second month of living together, he had casually asked her how much the rent was and told her he didn't want to be a freeloader, and had paid her half the rent. After the _third_ month of living together, she had asked him for his half of the rent, and Austin was _really_ hoping that at the beginning of their fourth month of living together, she would just assume that he would pay his half.

In all honestly, living with Ally was really quite great. She cooked for him, but she squealed in delight whenever he cooked for _her_. She kept communal areas like the living room and the kitchen tidy, but Austin knew that her bedroom was a mess (as was his). They got to play music every night, and a few times they had fallen asleep in the living room, and the way Ally's tiny hand always somehow found its way underneath his shirt to rest on top of his heart made the backache he felt from sleeping on the floor all night _totally worth it_. He was a morning person, and she wasn't, so he often got the honour of having to haul her ass out of bed so that she wouldn't be late for university. ' _How did you ever survive without me?'_ , he had joked.

He often wondered how _he_ had survived so long without _her_.

Another yawn from the sleepy brunette in his arms made him open his eyes, and briefly, he considered the idea of just staying there on the couch _all night_ , and being able to hold her and sleep blissfully, the way he always did on the few occasions they had fallen asleep together in the living room. He was _really_ quite reluctant to let go of her.

"Couldn't you just stay here _forever_?" Ally suddenly asked, her voice muffled.

Austin looked down at her, intrigued. "Hm?"

Her eyes met his, acute with embarrassment as though she realised she had said that out loud. "I just – um, it's just – uh – I'm very comfortable," she managed to say, and Austin smiled.

"Me too," he said.

"Then let's just stay here all night. Like this."

So they did.

* * *

"We're out of milk," Austin called, putting the empty carton back into the fridge and closing the door.

As far as he knew, Ally was still sleeping, but he figured now that he had called out loudly she would be awake. He yawned and scratched his chest, shuffling around the kitchen to make some toast, since it seemed that anything that required milk was off the menu today. He _could_ just go out and buy some, he reflected thoughtfully, but that would require putting on more clothes and he was currently _very_ comfortable in just his boxers, thank-you-very-much.

When Ally didn't respond, he figured that perhaps he just hadn't called out loudly enough. He checked his watch, to see if it was a reasonable time to wake her up – surely, she wouldn't mind being awake at eight-thirty? Even if it _was_ a Sunday morning?

"Ally _yyyyy_ ," he called pathetically, from where he was seated at their table. "Ally _yyyy_ yyy _yyyy_ yyyy _yyy_!"

A few moments later, a very grumpy brunette stomped out of her bedroom, her hair sticking up in all directions. She folded her arms across her chest and cocked a hip out, tapping her fingers impatiently against her arms as she glared at him and waited for him to explain why he had woken her up. For a moment, he almost wished that looks _could_ kill, because then he wouldn't have to awkwardly explain to her that he had only woken her up because he didn't want to go to the grocery store and buy some milk.

"I, uh… We're out of milk," he said sheepishly.

Ally rolled her eyes.

"I thought maybe you wouldn't mind going to the grocery store to buy us some milk?" He squeaked.

Still, no response, but she continued to tap her fingers impatiently as though waiting for him to have a better explanation.

"I… thought maybe you wouldn't mind _accompanying_ me to the grocery store to buy us some milk?" He tried again, biting his lip.

Another roll of her eyes.

"…I wanted to say 'hi' before _I_ went to the grocery store to buy us some milk?"

She glanced around as though looking for patience, and then slowly turned around, not bothering to even respond.

"I feel as though this conversation was very one-sided," Austin called out cheekily.

She still didn't say anything, but he heard her sigh before she walked to the bathroom – which meant that she wasn't going to go back to sleep.

"So, we're going to the grocery store, then?" He called.

Ally still didn't respond, but he heard the shower turn on and felt victorious that she hadn't just gone back to sleep. A pang went through him when he thought about how just two months and a bit ago, if Piper was in the shower, he would have joined her with a sultry grin and a cheeky smirk. He wondered if he would ever have that sort of relationship again, a cheeky one filled with laughter and happiness and love, or if he was doomed to live off of his best friend for the rest of his life. He wondered what would happen if – no, _when_ Ally got a boyfriend, because she was amazing and beautiful and he _knew_ that _somebody_ would snap her up soon – he wondered what would happen then. Would her future boyfriend feel jealous that her roommate was an attractive male? Would Austin give the 'if you hurt my best friend, I'll hurt _you_ ' talk? Would her hypothetical hubby want him to move out? What if _Ally_ wanted to move in with her new boyfriend? Where would Austin go, then? What about when she got married? Had kids? Was Austin destined to be the cool, bachelor uncle that wasn't _really_ related to them at all but he was practically part of the family?

Oh dear, what if Ally's kids didn't even _like_ him?

Then he realised that he was being ridiculous, and that Ally wasn't going anywhere. She had promised him that they would be friends forever. She didn't _have_ a boyfriend yet, though he knew that Elliot was trying to pluck up the courage to ask her out and escape the friend zone. Why was he getting lost in hypotheticals?

Before his thoughts could continue in an alarmingly depressing manner, Ally emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy white towel with her wet hair cascading around her shoulders as she shuffled to her bedroom.

"Get dressed," she called, giving him a stern glance that left no room for argument. "Wear something nice."

Not that he really _could_ argue, when all he could think about was how soft and _warm_ her skin must be after that shower, and how even though that towel covered her completely and blanketed her form down to her knees, it was horribly tempting to think that with a flick of his wrist, she could be wearing nothing at all. Luckily, she was in her bedroom and out of sight before Austin's thoughts could continue travelling down that path, and he cleared his throat. He finished his toast, and went to his bedroom to get dressed, as instructed.

"Ally," he whined, knocking on her bedroom door once he was ready, clad in his nicest pair of jeans and a plain, dark blue button-down shirt. "Are you done yet?"

"Just drying my hair!" She yelled.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure!"

Austin opened the door and found her holding a hairdryer to her hair with one hand, and holding a hairbrush in the other. She was wearing a white off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and a pair of dark red jeans, her face void of make-up. He liked it when she didn't wear make-up. It was as though she didn't feel the need to enhance her already beautiful features because she liked how she looked without it.

"Need help?" He asked, sitting down beside her on the bed.

She handed him the hairdryer without a word, a shy smile on her face as she carefully began to brush her hair according to where he was drying it. They had done this before – he had often helped her dry her hair for her, and she had insisted that she had to brush it in a certain way or it would go frizzy. Austin ran his fingers gently through her hair as he dried it.

"You look nice," he commented, his eyes wandering over the bare expanse of her shoulder, where her bra strap was peeking out. It was pink. He wondered if the rest of her bra was pink, too.

"Thanks," she said, humming happily as she continued to brush her hair. After a moment, she reached over Austin to turn on her hair curler. "You look nice, too," she added.

"So, why are we dressing up nicely if we're just going to go buy milk?" Austin asked her, tipping his head to the side as he continued to run his fingers through his hair as he dried it.

"We're not going out to buy milk, dumbass," she said, rolling her eyes.

Austin looked hurt. "But we're out of milk."

"We'll get the milk later," she said with a small sigh, before she ran her fingers through her hair. "Just keep drying this side?" She asked him, reaching for her curler and beginning to curl the parts of her hair that were already completely dry.

"So we're are we going?" He pressed curiously, drying wherever she directed him to do so.

"It's a secret."

" _Ally_ ," he groaned, before blinking and pouting at her with the best Puppy Dog Eyes he could muster.

Her eyes softened, and he felt as though he had won.

"We're meeting with the landlord. He's old-fashioned, and doesn't like it when you show up looking scruffy," she said, and then she hummed merrily as she finished curling her hair and set the curler on the vanity. She stood up from her chair and took back the hairdryer from him, putting her things away neatly before she spun around to grab her phone off the charger. "Shall we go?"

Austin's eyebrows knitted together, and he stood as well, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, why are we meeting with the landlord?"

Ally raised an eyebrow. "Were you planning on living illegally under my roof for the rest of your life? Get your head out of your ass, Austin."

It clicked in his mind, and he nodded in understanding as he followed her out of her bedroom. " _Oh_ ," he said. He remembered having to meet with the landlord before he moved in with Piper, to sort out the apartment's occupancy limit and health safety regulations, and figured that he'd have to do it again since he had been staying with Ally. The landlord was a nice man, and had contacted Austin on multiple occasions to find out when he would sign the lease to be an official co-tenant of the apartment he had shared with Piper. A pang went through him when he realised that he had never signed the lease, so Piper wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of taking his name off of it. It had never been his apartment. It had always been _her_ apartment.

Austin cleared his throat. "So we're just going to do the whole, occupancy limit and ID check shebang?" He asked as they got into the elevator.

Ally rolled her eyes. "Austin, do you really think I wouldn't have checked with the landlord about the legal occupancy limit of my apartment before I let you start paying rent?"

He blinked. "Oh. Wait, so what are we doing?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked to the ceiling, as though asking for patience. Austin was reminded that Ally was _not_ a morning person. "Since the landlord already knew you, he was willing to let the standard background checks slide. He texted me last night to tell me that the revised lease has been written up. We just have to go down, read and sign it," she explained.

His heart twisted. Ally had taken the initiative to get his name on the legal documentation to make him a co-tenant of her – no _their_ – apartment, and they were only best friends. Piper had been his _girlfriend_ and she had never made the effort to make an appointment with the landlord to get the lease signed. She had told Austin to do it himself, that he was a big boy and he could handle doing it by himself. Yet, here he was, walking along the hallway of the first floor to the landlord's building because Ally had done _everything_ in this process for him and all he had to do was sign the form, because she knew that he would be living with her for a while but hadn't expected him to be feeling well enough to do it by himself.

"You're amazing. Do you know that? Do you know how amazing you are?" Austin asked her, as they rounded the corner and came to a stop in front of the landlord's apartment.

Ally shrugged, and bit her lip bashfully. "I try," she said modestly, before she knocked on the door.

The landlord was pleased to see Austin, and everything went smoothly. Four biscuits, two cups of tea, and two hours later, Austin and Ally were leaving the landlord's apartment with their newly signed lease. As they walked towards the elevator, Austin grabbed Ally's hand on impulse and gave her a small smile. She simply raised an eyebrow, but didn't protest, clearly waiting for some kind of explanation.

"Thank you," he said, as they stepped into the elevator, giving her hand a small squeeze.

Her eyebrow remained raised, slowly inching towards her hairline as she gave him a look of utter confusion. "For what?"

He shrugged. "This. You. Us. The apartment," he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly with his spare hand. "You organised all this to sign me onto the lease, and I mean, it's just… When I was living with Piper, she kept telling me I could organise it by myself, that she only had to be there to sign her name and that she would go with me whenever I organised it, and I mean… It's just nice that you went ahead and did all of that for me and that you didn't keep pestering me about when I was gonna do it, you just went and did it anyway instead of sitting there with your stupid friends – who I _swear_ smoke weed – and they have _no_ taste in good music – like who the _fuck_ gives a shit about some weird artist in the 80s that nobody has even _heard_ of? – or bitching about how bloated you feel because you had to eat so much fucking tofu just to feel full because your body is used to meat and all of a sudden you're making it survive on only vegetables without any kind of transitional period and then getting mad at me when I suggest you ease yourself into it, claiming I'm not supportive but you don't even show up to my gigs – and yeah, I know they're weekly, but you've only come to a _few_ and you get annoyed when I practice but you _know_ that I just want it to be _perfect_ and then you have the nerve to fucking break up with _me_ because you think _I'm_ being unsupportive – well, _fuck you_ , because I was supportive _as fuck_ and – and I – and – and I just – and –"

"Austin," she said, cutting him off with a small smile. 'You're welcome."

He breathed in deeply as the elevator doors opened, suddenly feeling a lot lighter. He hadn't realised that he had so much pent up aggression towards Piper and how things had turned sour at the end of their relationship. He remembered early days, where he thought he would never get sick of hearing about the awesome waves at the beach, where long blonde hair was enough to get his heart racing and he would _crave_ falling asleep beside her so that he could hold her body against his and be lulled to sleep by her gentle heartbeat. He remembered the end of their relationship, where she spent so much time with her friends that even _she_ was beginning to smell like marijuana even though she didn't smoke it – and he knew she didn't smoke it, because he had dated girls who had smoked it before and he knew what it tasted like when he kissed them – and he remembered how her hair had begun to fall out, long blonde strands left on her pillow and in the shower drain, and how she would shrug him off during the night and he wouldn't be _able_ to sleep because they were fighting so much and he just didn't know how to fix it – how to fix _them_.

And suddenly, Austin felt a lot better about himself, the break up, and even Piper.

Once they were in their apartment – _officially_ their apartment, since he had now signed the lease – Austin followed Ally into the kitchen. She began to put together things for breakfast, since it was only just past eleven in the morning, and he watched her for a little while before he suddenly came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. He felt her stiffen in his arms, the muscles in her back tense as she continued to stir the batter, attempting to remain passive. He wondered why he felt disappointed that she didn't relax against his chest and stir in a calmer manner, perhaps humming slightly and filling his senses with _Ally, Ally, Ally_.

"Thanks," he mumbled into her shoulder, pressing his nose against it. She still smelled like vanilla.

At his words, he felt her relax – only slightly – but it was enough to make him feel a little better. "No problem," she murmured quietly, before she set down the whisk and turned in his arms. She rested her hands on his biceps, admittedly awkwardly and then gave him a grin. He resisted the urge to lean down and kiss her – _god_ , she was _so close_ – and simply tightened his arms around her tiny waist, subtly pulling her closer into his chest.

"You're the bestest best friend ever," he declared quietly, staring at her earnestly. Although, he had a feeling that _she_ knew that she was so much more than just the 'bestest best friend ever', even if _Austin_ didn't know that yet.

* * *

Thunder boomed, rain poured, and lightning briefly illuminated Austin's bedroom, the flashes of white light managing to infiltrate his room despite the fact that his blinds were closed. He had his eyes squeezed shut, the blankets pulled up all the way to his neck in a futile attempt to go to sleep. After the seventh time of light filling his room, and _still_ being able to see it, even with his eyes closed, he groaned and turned his face into his pillow. He gulped slightly, trying his very best not to cry, because Austin was afraid of thunderstorms and had never had to face them alone. His mother used to comfort him, and then when he lived with Dez, Dez would comfort him. When he lived with Piper, she would wrap him in her arms and sigh in exasperation, never questioning his fear of thunderstorms but never validating it either. He had always felt stupid when he had to go to her for comfort, because he knew that she _loved_ thunderstorms, and that she thought his fear was silly and that as soon as the storm was over she would just gently tease and mock him about it. He didn't like it when people's jokes involved belittling other people's fears and concerns.

After a few more minutes of listening to the storm outside, physically shaking in fear as the storm got worse and worse, he knew he had no choice. He didn't want Ally to think that he was _pathetic_ , but she was the only one he could turn to at this point. With as much dignity as he could possibly muster, he stood up and wrapped the blanket around his shirtless chest, slipping on his fluffy blue bedtime slippers, and shuffled out of his bedroom and towards hers. He knocked on her door, biting his lip and trying to calm his breathing.

"A-Ally," he called eventually, when she didn't answer. He knocked on her door again, swallowing hard. He continued to knock repeatedly, until the door suddenly swung open and a very annoyed Ally stood there, her hair a mess and her eyes squinting angrily.

" _What_?" She snapped, folding her arms across her chest.

Austin tried to ignore the fact that Ally apparently took off her pants when she went to sleep. Those legs _were_ impossibly distracting, though… He cleared his throat.

"I – I, um – it's—it's dumb, really, I'm – I'm sorry for waking you," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head. "Sor-sorry, I'll just… go now…"

Ally pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "What did you want, Austin?"

"It's nothing," he said, before a clap of thunder made him flinch violently. He gulped before he glanced at her. "It's – it's nothing," he insisted.

A look of realisation spread over her features, and she bit her lip, clearly having remembered his fear of thunderstorms. "What do you need me to do?" She asked gently.

"I – I, um," he stuttered, before lightning flashed again, illuminating their apartment. He gulped again. "I – I don't know," he managed to say.

"Hey, it'll be alright," Ally cooed softly. "How about we turn on the TV? Will that help?" She asked. "Or we could play some music. I don't know about you, but I think that 3am jam sessions are pretty darn cool."

He appreciated this. He appreciated that she was trying to make him feel better, and that she wasn't trying to force him to get _over_ the fear; she was merely attempting to normalise the situation by acting normal. He cleared his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck, before yet another clap of thunder caused him to flinch once more. He clutched the quilt that he had wrapped around himself, and shuddered violently, turning his face into the quilt, feeling scared and insecure and _vulnerable_.

"Come on," she said quietly, and she placed her hands on his chest before gently turning him around. She guided him to the couch and got him to sit down, before she snuggled down beside him, her back arching slightly over the arm rest. She opened his arms, and he fell into them, his ear against her chest and the blanket still clutched tightly around him. He felt her hands in his hair, on his back, all over him as she soothingly rubbed circles against him. He could barely feel it through his thick quilt, but the steady beating of her heart soothed him. The lightning and the thunder continued to echo around him, a cacophony of loud crashes and bangs that scared him, because Austin didn't like this – he didn't like confrontation, or yelling, or scary noises that made it sound like the sky was falling. He felt a tear slip past his eye and he knew that Ally could feel it against her shirt. He didn't want her pity, but he was a large man crying into the chest of a woman half his size because of a _thunderstorm_. Of _course_ he was going to get pity, he thought bitterly, but at least Ally wasn't invalidating his fears as Piper often had.

"Why don't we – Austin," she said quietly, after a few moments.

He lifted his head up from her chest to look at her. "Mm?" He whimpered, his throat tight.

"Listen to the thunder."

His eyes widened in alarm, and he shook his head, turning his nose back into her chest. He hadn't thought that through, though, because he realised that she was a girl and girls had _breasts_ and that he had essentially just buried his face between them. With a sheepish grin, he moved his head away, but if Ally had noticed, she didn't make a big deal out of it, as she gently guided his ear back to where her heartbeat was.

"Listen to it," she said quietly, but with his ear pressed against her chest, he could hear her voice reverberating all through his skull. He liked that. He liked that a lot.

"Why?" He asked timidly.

"Don't think of it as thunder," she suggested. "It's not thunder. It's a bass drum. It's a rain-stick. It's the snare, the toms. It's all just percussion. _Listen_."

He did as he was told. He was surprised to find that it helped, just a little bit. He was still frazzled, but he felt lighter. He was still scared, but he felt strangely comforted.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"Y'welcome," Ally murmured quietly back, her hands returning to rub soothing circles against his shoulders again.

A sigh of contentment fell from his lips, and although he still flinched with each booming clap of thunder and flash of light, he felt a little bit better. He was still wide awake, and he knew he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon, but at least his breathing had begun to even out and his heartbeat was becoming less erratic. Ally let out a little yawn, and he felt bad – she was staying up late _for him_ and she wasn't even complaining, even though Austin _knew_ that this was the first night in several weeks that she had actually managed to go to sleep before midnight, and whilst he knew she was also able to sleep in tomorrow (again, for the first time in several weeks, now that the album was finalised and the band had requested Sundays off), he still felt bad for keeping her up like this.

"You can go to sleep now, if you want," he murmured after a little while, looking up at her.

Ally shrugged and gave him his new favourite smile – the Sleepy Smile. "I don't mind. I wanna make sure you're settled," she explained.

Austin grinned and sat up slightly, the quilt falling away from his body. She raised an eyebrow, and looked so cute and content, all snuggled up in the corner of the couch. "You're sleepy," he said petulantly, almost feeling amused, before another clap of thunder caused him to flinch.

It was Ally's turn to look amused, and she sighed before shaking her head, ruffling his hair fondly. "Alright, alright, you caught me. I love you, but I love my sleep more. C'mon, nerd," she said, standing up and holding out her hand.

With a raised eyebrow, Austin grabbed her hand and gathered up his quilt in the other. He followed her to her bedroom, and looked confused when she pulled him inside and closed the door.

"Ally?" He asked, his voice hushed.

Her eyes widened when she seemed to realise how this must have appeared, and she shook her head rapidly, looking acutely embarrassed. "I'm not – I'm not _propositioning_ you!" She exclaimed, her arms flailing widely.

Austin smirked, and took a step towards her. "Too bad," he joked.

Ally rolled her eyes and swatted his chest with a smile. "No, no, it's just… You can't sleep without someone comforting you, and I wanna sleep."

Thunder clapped, and Austin flinched. He cleared his throat and motioned for her to continue, trying to imagine that the thunder was just drums, as Ally had suggested.

"Um, so – so, I wanna sleep, and you can't sleep. Wouldn't it make more sense to just sleep together?" She suggested.

"I thought you _weren't_ propositioning me," Austin teased.

"I'm – I'm not!" She spluttered.

"In any case, I don't need you to _pity_ me," he said, forcing a smile. "I'm – I'll be fine. I don't want to impose."

"You're not imposi—"

"I _am_ impo—"

A clap of thunder and a flash of lightning interrupted his sentence, and he jumped up straight in the air, hugging the quilt to his bare chest and swallowing hard. He looked at Ally's smug expression, and cleared his throat.

"On the other hand, it's not _really_ imposing if you offered," he decided quickly, before he discarded his quilt onto the floor and jumped onto Ally's bed.

He shuffled under her quilt, enjoying how her sheets smelled like vanilla and old books and calligraphy ink and _Ally_ , and he peeked up from underneath it with only his nose and wide, vulnerable eyes showing. Ally chuckled slightly, before crawling onto her bed and under her covers to join him. He lifted the quilt slightly so that she could shuffle in closer, and he cleared his throat.

"Are you sure this is okay?" He checked, and Ally shrugged.

"Relax, Austin. It's not like we've never fallen asleep together before," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but –" he said, opening his mouth to argue that this was a _bed_ , and she wasn't wearing pants and he wasn't wearing a shirt and therefore it was _weird_ , but lightning filled the room and he squeaked before screwing his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he was met with an amused stare and a cheerful quirk of a perfectly-plucked eyebrow.

"Any more objections?" She asked dryly. "Or am I so gross that you don't even wanna share a bed with me?" She added sassily, and he grinned sheepishly.

"Quite the opposite," he said gently, and he opened his arms for her.

She smiled, and shuffled into him, her arms wrapping likewise around his torso. He nuzzled his face against hers, his nose brushing her in an oddly intimate way, and when he opened his eyes he was greeted with the Sleepy Smile, which was _still_ the cutest smile ever, and perhaps even better than her Excited Smile.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"S'nothing," she said modestly, pressing her nose affectionately against his.

"But I woke you up for something stupid," he protested meekly, shivering when another boom of thunder sent his heart racing again.

"It's not stupid," she said sternly, poking his stomach. "A fear is a –" She broke off, yawning, before she continued. "A fear is a fear, regardless of what the fear is. No fear is a stupid fear."

"I love you," Austin told her, his lips quirking up.

"Love you too," she said sleepily. "Now shut up and go to sleep."

Austin smiled and nodded, before Ally yawned cutely. She buried her nose into the crook of his neck, pressing herself impossibly close to him as her hands rested gently against his back, her long, smooth legs tangled with his. The feeling of her hands against his bare skin made him feel warm all over, and suddenly all there was, was _Ally, Ally_ , _Ally_. It was like she was the sun, filling his world with warmth and light as he orbited her; the centre of his universe; the reason his world had seasons. Her warm breath against the skin of his neck was pulling him in like gravity, and he rested a hand on her thigh, gulping quietly at how delicate it seemed to be, before he gently pulled it over his hip and pulled her even closer to him so that they shared the same orbit because if she was the sun, then he was the moon, and he could only have light if he had her.

"I love you," he murmured again, and for a brief moment, he wondered if he meant it as more than just a friend.

Ally mumbled something incoherent in response, her small body pressing in impossibly close as his arms tightened around her and he breathed in her comforting smell of vanilla, calligraphy ink, and old books. It was as though nothing bad could happen to him as long as he had her in his arms; his sun; his lifeline; his gravity. He yawned and slowly, _slowly_ , began to fall asleep.

Thunder clapped. This time, Austin didn't flinch.

* * *

The next morning, Austin was woken up by sunlight gently filtering in through the blinds, and the sound of birds chirping. The only good part about thunderstorms was the aftermath; when everything was still and quiet because the sky had released all of its pent-up rage. He liked the smell of the air after it had been raining; clean and crisp, as though the world had reached its peak of purity and nothing would ever be better than its current state.

However, there was something about this morning that made Austin especially happy, and that something was a petite brunette wrapped in his arms, albeit awkwardly. Somehow, over the course of the night, she had rolled onto her back, and Austin had cuddled pathetically into her side, in the strangest role reversal he had ever found himself a part of. He could feel her heartbeat beneath his head, and her delicate flat stomach rose and fell gently beneath his arm. He couldn't really feel the other arm, because it was trapped under the small of her back, but he found that he didn't really mind, especially since Ally had wriggled out from under the quilts at some point during the night, and her shirt had ridden up to show a tantalising amount of creamy white skin that just _begged_ to be ravished by Austin's lips. He found that he didn't mind cuddling pathetically into her side, as though she were his teddy bear.

When he realised that he was acting very unmanly, Austin rolled onto his back and pulled her with him, so that now _she_ was the one cuddling pathetically into _his_ side.

"Mmf!" She squeaked, her eyes shooting open when Austin moved her. "Oh. _Oh_. Good morning, Austin," she said with a gentle smile. She still looked sleepy, and her eyes were only half open, with her eyelashes fluttering as she blinked slowly. She looked content, and her smile stretched lazily over her face, her eyes still half-lidded and none of her teeth showing.

All of a sudden, Austin had a new favourite smile. He thought it would be appropriate to name this one The Morning After Smile.

"G'morning," he said back to her. He stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully, wondering why it felt so _right_ to wake up beside Ally.

"How are you?" She asked back sleepily, yawning and putting her head on top of his chest. He wondered if she could hear his heart beating faster.

"I'm good," he said. "Thanks for – thanks for comforting me last night," he added.

"S'no problem."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, and Austin was almost positive that Ally had fallen asleep again. He didn't mind. Instead, he just closed his eyes and let his hand rub her back gently, drawing miscellaneous circles in the small of her back, where the hem of her shirt had ridden up to. He fiddled with the hem of it, before he rested his hand on her lower back, marvelling at how warm her skin was. He felt her stiffen beneath his hand, and he wondered if he should pull it back. When she relaxed a moment later, he figured that she didn't mind – especially since she hadn't recoiled or given any indication that he wasn't allowed to hold her like this. He wondered if it was perverted of him to think that he would very much like her to run her hands all over _his_ back.

After a moment of hesitation, Austin experimentally slipped his fingers just under the hem of her shirt, before sliding his whole hand beneath her shirt and brushing her shoulders. He felt her take in a deep breath, and release it slowly, and he took this as a sign that he was allowed to do this. He continued to gently rub up and down her whole back, feeling a smug satisfaction in the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra, so he could feel all of the smooth skin of her back. She was so warm, so _petite_ ;and her skin was so soft. There was no doubt in his mind that his female best friend was an incredibly attractive woman, and whilst his touch was chaste and nowhere inappropriate (except for the fact that he had his hand on her bare back), he wondered if he had imagined the shuddering exhale that she let out. He wondered if he _wanted_ to be having an effect on her.

It was almost as though she had a crush on him, or something, because she was having a very exaggerated response to his feather-light touch. Her breathing picked up and he heard her let out a soft sigh of content. He wondered if she had a crush on him – was he giving her the wrong idea? Did he like _her_? Did she even like _him_? Was he asking these questions over nothing? It was the only plausible explanation; either that, or she hadn't had sex in a long time or perhaps she had _never_ –

"Ally?" He asked, his voice a whisper.

"Hmm?" She murmured back, looking up at him with that lovely The Morning After Smile.

"Are you a virgin?"

It seemed as though that _wasn't_ the right thing to say, because she sat up immediately, pulling away, and he frowned, already missing the warmth of her body beside his.

"Ex _cuse_ me?" She demanded, sitting awkwardly with her legs curled beneath her and her hands fisted angrily against her waist. Perhaps now was not a good time to remember that Ally was not a morning person. " _What_ did you just ask me?"

"Are you a – are you a virgin?" He asked again, this time looking sheepish. He hadn't expected her to look so angry.

Ally pinched the bridge of her nose, and he was worried that she was angry. After all, he _had_ just asked her an incredibly intrusive and rude question. However, her shoulders began to shake and he heard a giggle fall from her lips before she snorted that wonderful _snort_ of hers, and she finally peeked out from under her hand.

"So… is that a 'yes'?" Austin asked curiously.

"I am – I am _so_ not having this conversation with you!" She exclaimed, her eyes alight with laughter.

"That means you are," he sang, grinning.

Ally threw a pillow at him and swatted him hard in the chest. " _Not_ having this conversation with you."

"Ow," he mumbled, rubbing his jaw dejectedly. "Whatever. Come back, I want more cuddles."

Ally laughed again and smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry, Austin. I have stuff to do."

Austin pouted. " _What_? You said today was your day off!"

"I forgot about my assignment!" She exclaimed defensively, holding her hands up in surrender. "I have to go the library and do some research. I'll swing by the café around three-ish, if you wanna join me," she said.

He sat up, the blankets pooling around his waist, and nodded. Austin wasn't sure why he felt so disappointed, or why he had the urge to grab her by the waist and pull her back down to him. Ally gave him one last apologetic look before kissing him quickly on the cheek, and bouncing out of the room to go take a shower. As she left, her messy hair tumbling over her shoulders as she skipped out of the room, and her smile permanently engraved in Austin's mind, he wondered if she had any idea that his cheek was still tingling. He wanted more; he wanted to know what it felt like when she kissed his lips; his chest; his whole body. He wanted to know what it was like to kiss _her_ ; to ravish her neck, her stomach, every inch of that impossibly smooth skin that he craved to touch. All of a sudden, Austin knew why he was disappointed that he didn't get those cuddles. He couldn't get enough of her smiles, her giggles, her everything.

He was falling in love with Allyson Dawson.

* * *

Generally, when a person had a crush on another person, the normal thing to do would be to ask them out.

Which was how Austin found himself carrying a bouquet of flowers in one hand, and nervously running the other hand through his perfectly-styled hair. He had gotten lilies and chrysanthemums – Ally's favourites – from the florist down the road, and was making his way to the coffee shop. Ally had said she would be there around three, and Austin planned on making his move then. He thought it would be nice – they had met at the coffee shop, they had become friends there… It was sort of 'their place'.

He smelled the flowers – they smelled good – before he opened the door and scanned the shop for Ally. He spotted her almost immediately, and she was talking to Elliot at the counter. Neither of them had noticed him yet, and he was about to make his way over when he heard Elliot say something.

"Okay, okay, so I've been trying to figure out the best way to do this for the past four months, Ally. I thought – the perfect girl deserves the perfect way to ask a question. But then, then I realised that a girl like you just wants to get to know _me_ , not know what I can do to ask you out on a date. So, Ally, in the simplest way that I could _possibly_ ask you this question – will you go on a date with me?"

Austin fell from Cloud Nine. His throat was dry, and he could barely hear Ally's shocked response over the pounding of blood in his ears.

"Are you sure?" She asked, looking incredulous.

He felt ridiculous. He was standing there with flowers for a girl who would never view him as anything more than her best friend.

"Yes, I'm sure," Elliot said warmly, his eyes meeting hers.

Ally looked embarrassed.

Austin wanted to punch a wall.

"If – well – I mean… I mean, I guess _one_ date wouldn't be the _worst_ thing," she said hesitantly. "It's just…"

Without even bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation, he turned around and left the café, bouquet clutched in his hands. Jealousy bubbled in him like magma, hot and churning below the surface, as he made his way numbly to their apartment. He put the flowers in a vase – after all, he had spent quite a bit of money on them and it would be a waste to throw them out – and figured he would make up a story about them later. He went into his room and stayed there all night, somehow feeling more dejected than he had when he and Piper had broken up.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so my HSC starts in about a month, so it's unlikely that I'll have a lot of time t** **o write the next chapter. I'm sorry that I've sort of ended it on a bit of a dreary note for now, but I'm taking a semi-hiatus. Hopefully the cuteness within the chapter is enough to satiate you. I'll try to get up the next chapter before the end of September, but I can't guarantee anything, I'm sorry.**

 **Replies to you lovely reviewers!:**

 **HeartSoulForever:** Ah! That was my favourite bit, too. I'm really glad you find it funny, because I aim to entertain!

 **Lookin' For Treble:** It seemed like a very 'Ally' thing to do, to try and please everybody, so hooray! And yaaaaass, I'm glad you loved it bb.

 **Lollypop:** Aw, shucks, babe. You continue being fantabulous as well.

 **Libra986:** I hope that bowl of cereal was good too!

 **rauraR5fangirl:** Aw, you're welcome! I'm glad you liked it!

 **Cornyshor:** PLS IM BLUSHING

 **LoveShipper:** Looks like Austin is too ;) ;) ;)

 **YoungANDWild255:** Hehe, it means a lot to me that you're enjoying the story hon 3 I'm blushinnng! Aw, shucks.

 **Adorakablerauraxauslly:** Squeeeeeeee!

 **J:** PSH YOU'RE JUST SAYING THAT.

 **L/B:** Thanks!

 **Guest2:** I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!

 **Samlie:** EXACTLY. But this chapter was a lot happier so I'm happy :3 The tickle fight was probably my favourite part too and it just kind of _happened_ like I hadn't even planned it and then it happened and iwas like HOLY CRAP THIS IS CUTE

 **Rauslly-and-Percabeth-Rock:** pls! I'm so embarrassed :P Thank you, love.

 **Alyssa4eva:** Ahaha! I try my best to reach at _least_ 5000 words per chapter, but it's always kind of hard in the beginning. It's so sad when you see someone has updated after like a _month_ but they only have like… 1000 words :(

 **Chubby bunny:** I read ALL your reviews! And I love you, you're one of my favourites. Yes, keep an eye out for me when I become a famous author :P

 **Aznmissy04:** bae you should know by now that of COURSE I'm trying to kill you

 **MusicLover4Life23:** No worries!

 **Gaby Coast:** I'm an inspiration? PSH.

 **Luckystarz910:** Oooh, I see somebody's been reading through the whole story ;) I'm glad you're enjoying it, hon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: is this really necessary for every chapter**

 **Word Count: 8 372**

 **A/N: Hello my beautiful readers! I'm so sorry that this took so long, and I know I said I would try to have the update before the end of September but – hey, better late than never, right?**

 **While I've got you all here, I'd also like to thank Aznmissy04 for sticking with me even through the parts where I thought I would never get this chapter done, and for encouraging me and telling me that you guys would like this chapter no matter what length it was. Thank you SO much!**

 **QUESTIONS:**

 **Guest:** **So ally's a virgin?**

WooOoOOOOoOOOOOOo _OOooOOOo_ _OoOOooOO_ _ **OOOOooOOOOOW**_. My previous decision stands that it's ambiguous and left up to the reader to decide. The teasing from Austin in the previous chapter is completely based off of Austin's POV – Ally refused to have the conversation with him, hence it's still up to the reader to decide what her answer would have been. The reason why Ally had such a strong reaction to him touching her back was because she has a crush on him, but Austin didn't know that which is why he assumed she was a virgin. _But it doesn't matter whether or not she is._

 **Without further ado, here's Chapter 8!**

* * *

As it turned out, avoiding somebody who you shared an apartment with was a lot harder than Austin had originally thought. He had planned to spend the whole evening locked in his bedroom, staring murderously at the lovely bouquet of flowers that he had bought for Ally. He hadn't wanted to talk to her when she got home; he had wanted to sit in his room, singing along with Taylor Swift and Adele, and stew in his self-pity without acknowledging her presence in his home or in his heart.

However, that plan immediately failed, because the first thing Ally did when she got home was knock on his bedroom door. He stopped singing immediately, and leaped across his bedroom to turn off his speakers.

"Austin?" She called.

He tried not to reply, tried to pretend he was asleep, or not at home, or – or _something_. He heard her knock on the door again, and then there was silence, followed by a sigh and the sound of her retreating footsteps.

This then led Austin to the horrifying realisation that he was either going to have to hide out in his room until he heard her go to take a shower, and then pretend to come home then, or he would have to admit that he had heard her knocking and had purposefully ignored her. Although, he supposed he could also pretend that he had just been napping – that seemed like the easiest and safest option. But how long was a long enough time to pretend he had been napping? His stomach was already starting to growl – he was immensely regretting the fact that he hadn't eaten an afternoon snack when he got home. He had been locked in his bedroom for three hours, and he hadn't realised how hungry he was until he had heard Ally knock on his door. If he stayed in there for another five minutes, would it seem suspicious? Perhaps ten was better, because it would seem like he really had been in the deepest part of his sleep.

After fifteen minutes, Austin decided that he had waited it out long enough. He ran a hand through his hair and rumpled his clothes, attempting to make it seem as though he had just woken up. Ah, yes – his master plan would work.

When he opened the door, however, he was not expecting to see Ally standing in front of his bedroom door with her arms crossed and fingers tapping impatiently.

"Are you done avoiding me?" She asked dryly, an eyebrow raised. She looked rather miffed, like a teacher who had just found out that nobody in her class had done their homework.

"I – I wasn't avoiding you!" Austin lied.

"Oh, really?" Ally asked sarcastically, clearly not believing him.

Well, Austin wouldn't have believed himself, either.

"You can't prove anything," he tried.

Ally rolled her eyes. "Austin, I heard you singing along to _You Belong With Me_ when I got home. And when I knocked on your door, I heard you rush to turn it off. I'm not _deaf_ , dumbass."

Austin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oh," was all he could manage.

There was an awkward silence while either one of them tried to figure out what to say. Austin opened his mouth to apologise when the silence got too much to bear, but Ally beat him to it.

"Is this about Piper?" She asked gently, turning those big brown eyes on him with concern.

Of all the things that Ally could say, Austin hadn't been expecting that. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, and then opened it and closed it again, unsure of how to respond. "I – why would this be about Piper?" He asked curiously.

Ally tipped her head to the side, her hair moving slightly with the motion. Austin wanted nothing more than to grab that hair and pull her into a fiery kiss to make her forget all about Elliot. He could just imagine her expression if he did that; her lips would part and her cheeks would flush, giving her the impression of innocence that somehow _really_ got his engine revving. He cleared his throat and was grateful when she began to speak again, because it cut off his train of thought.

"I just thought, maybe you'd be upset, cus y'know… she and Miles are like… Yeah…"

"Piper and – and _Miles_?" Austin asked, his jaw dropping and his eyes widening comically. He thought to all the times he and Piper had had a fight over how jealous he got with how close she was with Miles. She had insisted that they were nothing more than friends, and had always encouraged Austin to be nicer to the sweet boy.

 _Well_ , Austin thought bitterly. _I guess they're not '_ just friends' _anymore._

"How long do you think it took her to get over me?" Austin asked dryly, his face void of emotion.

Ally rolled her eyes and swatted his chest. "Austin. It's almost been four months. She's allowed to move on her with her life, just as you have with yours," she reprimanded, before she sighed and opened her arms for a hug. "But I can bake you cookies and we can draw moustaches all over pictures of her, if that makes you feel better."

He didn't want Ally to think that he was upset because of Piper. He wasn't – and he felt as though this were truly a sign that he was no longer in love with her. He didn't want Ally to think that he still harboured feelings for Piper, because there was still a small part of him that was hoping Ally felt the same way for him that he did for her. But…

He wanted the cookies.

"That _would_ make me feel better," he said with a nod before happily stepping into Ally's outstretched arms. He rested his cheek on top of her head, his hands roaming up and down her back as he pulled her close to him. He stayed like that, happily holding her in his arms and enjoying the fruity smell of her shampoo as her hair tickled his nose. When his back began to ache, rather than pulling away like a normal person, he just stood up straight, refusing to let go of her.

"Um, Austin?" Ally mumbled sheepishly into his chest after a few moments.

"Yeah?" He responded his cheek still laying upon her head.

"You can put me down now."

It seemed indeed that he had lifted her, with her feet hovering an inch or two above the ground, and with an embarrassed smile, Austin gingerly put her down. She shook her head with an amused smile, before motioning to the kitchen and walking away. It was as though Austin's eyes were set on autopilot as they followed the sway of her hips as she walked away, and he cleared his throat before turning back into his room.

When the smell of freshly baked cookies lured him out almost an hour later, and Austin found himself sharing an evening of laughter and cookies with the girl he was trying to avoid – because he was _mad_ at her, dammit – it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he _couldn't_ be mad at her.

* * *

"You look great in both of them," Austin sighed, rubbing his jaw. He lay on the couch as Ally prepared for her date with Elliot, his arms folded across his chest as he tried to soothe the jealousy that was simmering under his skin. "Honestly, Ally, you'd make a potato sack look good," he pointed out, and she ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Oh, _stop_ it," she laughed, hiding her face between her hands. She wore a pretty dark blue dress that hugged her torso before it flowed loosely around her hips and legs, coming to a stop at her knees. It was a very modest dress, and was not provocative in any way, yet Austin still had a little fantasy of ripping it off with his teeth and covering Ally's body with his own. He gulped quietly and rolled onto his stomach, face-down into the couch.

"Just video chat Trish. She's better at this fashion stuff than I am," he said, his voice muffled by the couch.

"But you're right here!" Ally whined, and he heard her stamp her foot on the floor.

 _Stop being so damn adorable_ , Austin wanted to scream. It was taking all his willpower not to tell her to forget all about Elliot, to tell her that he was _right there_ and that he would love to help her choose her outfit for a date _with him_ , but he bit his tongue and buried his face further into the couch. He knew that there was _something_ between them – Ally wouldn't let just _anybody_ touch her back as intimately as he had the other morning. She was too conservative for that, and valued herself too much to share a bed with just _anybody_ and to let him cuddle her while he wore no shirt and she wore no pants – he could still replay the night of the thunderstorm in his head. It was as though it were a movie scene, and he could watch it in high definition over and over. That night _meant_ something, and he knew it did. If he had only confronted his feelings earlier, and accepted the fact that he was _head over heels_ for the beautiful brunette he shared an apartment with, then perhaps _he_ would be taking her out tonight instead of Elliot.

"Okay, I think I'll go with the red one," Ally said, tapping her chin and sounding thoughtful.

Austin's head shot up. The red one was a cute little number, showing just enough leg to drive anybody who was into girls _insane_ , and hugged her every curve, perfectly showing off her ass – oops, he meant her _assets_.

"No, I think you should go with the blue one," Austin said, sitting up and pouting. He didn't want Elliot to get to go on a date with Ally sitting in that pretty red dress, thinking inappropriate things about her perfectly flat stomach. He'd much rather Elliot see Ally in her cute, _modest_ dark blue dress, where he could focus on her _face_ and not her _body_.

Actually, he would much rather Elliot not be on the date at all.

"But I think I look nicer in the red one," Ally argued, pouting. She knew he couldn't resist the pout.

What Ally couldn't account for, though, was the fact that Austin's _raging jealousy_ was a much stronger voice than the _oh-my-god-the-puppy-dog-eyes-give-this-woman-anything-she-wants_ voice. He shook his head firmly, and tried to let an easy grin spread across his face.

"You look great in both," he said. "I just think the blue one is more… first-date material."

Ally tapped her chin and then shrugged. "The blue one it is," she said, before she twirled and struck a cute pose, with her hands under her chin and her face set in an angelic smile.

"You're so fucking adorable," he mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Ally asked, having not heard what he said.

Austin cleared his throat. "Uh, you… You look really good in that," he said dumbly, scratching the back of his neck. He didn't know how else to cover up what he had really said, because somehow, he thought it was crossing the bro-code to tell his bro's date that she was _adorable_.

She smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Thanks, Austin," she said, biting her lip as though she were embarrassed. She sat down on the couch beside him, and looked down at her lap. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of- of course, Ally," Austin said, gulping quietly. He wasn't sure what to do with his hands – was he supposed to wrap an arm around her? Was he supposed to leave them folded neatly in his lap? He looked down at her, and left his hands in his lap, thinking that that seemed to be the safest option.

From the angle he could see her at, he watched her bottom lip disappear as she presumably wedged it between her teeth, and her eyelashes fluttered. "I'm not sure if I want to go on this date with Elliot," she said quietly, as though she were afraid of him overreacting. "I mean – I mean, he's great and all, it's just… It's just, I'm not, like… _excited_. I thought I would be excited. But I'm not. It just feels like I'm going to go hang out with friends, like, with Trish, or Dez or something," she sighed, before she tilted her head up to look at him.

Austin looked down at her, an eyebrow raised and his heart beating impossibly fast. He hadn't missed how she hadn't said his name, hadn't lumped him into the category of ' _just friends_ '. Did she like him just as much as he liked her? Or was it just wishful thinking?

"Then don't go," he managed to say eventually, his eyes meeting hers. "Stay here. With me."

For a moment, neither of them said anything, and Austin was scared he had said the wrong thing. Her eyes searched through his, as though asking him some kind of question, but Austin had never been particularly good with the whole 'reading people' thing and couldn't understand what she was asking. His words hung in the air, a stagnant reminder that he had just inadvertently admitted that he wasn't _happy_ with her going on a date with Elliot, that he wanted her to stay with _him_. He gulped quietly after a few more moments of silence, biting his lip nervously as her eyes continued to roam his expression. Perhaps she was trying to figure out if he was being serious? Or, knowing Ally, her mind had gone into overdrive and she was analysing every single affectionate thing he had done recently, and she was probably attempting to decipher his words, to pull apart each syllable and find the hidden message.

Austin thought the message was pretty damn obvious.

It seemed like an eternity before she finally spoke again. "What would you do if I said I wanted to go on the date with Elliot?" She asked, her eyes wide and hopeful, as though she wanted him to react.

A surge of jealousy shot through him and his jaw clenched as he imagined all sorts of boys taking Ally out on a date. He knew Elliot would treat her right, and he knew that Ally would only go on a date with a man who treated her with respect, but Austin didn't want to imagine her on a date with _anybody_. "I don't know," he managed to grit out, trying to keep his jealousy under control. "I probably wouldn't care because I'm cooler than him and you know that, and I know that, so _hah_ ," he grumbled childishly.

Her eyes sparkled, clearly pleased with his poor attempts at concealing his jealousy. "Austin," she breathed. "Are you implying that you would be _jealous_?"

"Do you want me to be jealous?" He asked, his tone tinged with uncertainty.

"Do – do you want me to want _you_ to be jealous?" She asked, biting her lip, sounding as uncertain as he did.

"Do you want me to want _you_ to want me to be jealous?"

"Do you want me to want you to want me to want you to be jealous?" She countered, a playful gleam entering her eyes.

"I think that you want me to want you to want me to want you to want me to be jealous," Austin decided, nodding his head.

Ally's perfect little nose scrunched up in confusion, and she tilted her head slightly before shaking it with an incredulous smile spreading across her features. "I'm not even going to ask you to repeat that," she giggled.

Austin simply grinned, before he leaned in until their noses were almost bumping. It was all too similar to the night of the thunderstorm, where she had let him share her bed and comforted him until he could finally _sleep_ – and their noses had rubbed against one another and he had wanted to do it again, to rub his nose against hers over and over until she giggled so that he could kiss her and take her by surprise – but obviously, he hadn't done that, and he wasn't going to do that. Instead, he leaned in until their noses were just touching, and he wore a playful smirk.

"So, it's settled then."

"What is?" She asked, blinking in surprise at his sudden proximity. Austin felt encouraged when she didn't move away, feeling as though this were his _chance_. Perhaps he could make her forget all about _Elliot_.

"You're staying here. With me. Not going out with Elliot. Yeah?"

Ally blinked rapidly, as though processing his words. A shy smile slipped onto her face, and she bit her lip, her eyes searching his. "But I already told him I would go with him," she pointed out.

"Call him and cancel," Austin said petulantly. "You'd rather hang out with me."

She rolled her eyes and swatted his chest gently, but then rubbed her hand soothingly over the spot she had just hit him. Her hands rubbed up and down his chest before they ran over his shoulders and met at the nape of his neck. "And what would we do if I stayed here?" She asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.

Austin's smirk turned wicked, and his eyebrow twitched suggestively. "I can think of a few things," he murmured.

Before he could do anything more, a sharp knocking startled him and he jerked his head away in confusion. He looked at Ally, his eyes wide with surprise, and she looked equally as startled as he.

"Ally?" Elliot's voice came from the other side of the front door, and Ally stood up immediately, brushing imaginary dirt off of her pretty blue dress and smiling sheepishly at Austin. He wanted to punch a wall.

"Um – um, coming!" She called loudly. "I – I just have to grab my purse! Sorry!"

With another sheepish glance at Austin, she pranced away like a deranged gazelle in heels, before she grabbed her purse off of the hook beside the front door and opened it. Elliot stood there in a light-blue button-down shirt, complete with a dark blue tie that somehow matched Ally's dress. He wore dark dress pants to accompany it, and it was clear to Austin that they were going to _some_ kind of fancy restaurant.

"Aw, look, we match!" Ally exclaimed, looking excited as she gestured between her dress and his tie.

Had Austin mentioned before that he wanted to punch a wall? Because he _really_ wanted to punch a wall.

"Great minds think alike," Elliot joked, before his head peeked around the doorframe and he waved at Austin. "I'll have her home by ten o'clock," he joked, grinning.

"I'll be counting down the minutes," Austin replied dryly, in no mood to chat with his cheerful friend.

Elliot didn't seem to notice, though, and apparently mistook Austin's dry response as playful banter, because his smile only grew as he waved again and led Ally away, his hand on the small of her back. Austin watched dolefully as the door gently closed behind them, and then he rolled onto his stomach and screamed into the couch cushion.

* * *

The red numbers of Austin's alarm clock blinked happily at him, a stagnant reminder that it was exactly 10:02pm and Ally was not home yet. Hadn't Elliot said he'd have her home by ten? It wasn't like Elliot to be two minutes late. He was always exactly on-time for his job at the coffee shop. Shouldn't he be just as punctual with ensuring Ally got home safely?

Unless…

What if they _were_ already safely in the apartment building, but Elliot had Ally pinned against the front door of the apartment in a slow and sensual kiss? The images were running rampant in Austin's head now, as he imagined someone else's hands all over Ally's body, someone else's lips on Ally's lips, someone else getting to be Ally's _boyfriend_ and – and –

The images were too much for Austin to bear, and he sat up straight in his bed, running a hand through his hair. The simplest solution to stop his imagination from producing more disturbing images would be to just go out and check to see if they were home yet. Perhaps they had gotten home and he simply hadn't heard yet. Or perhaps his clock was fast – or maybe Elliot's watch was _slow_.

 _10:03_

Two minutes late, Austin could handle. But three minutes? No, no, he had to go out and check, to find out if Ally had a good time or not – if he was lucky, maybe Elliot and Ally ended up having an awful time and ultimately decided to stay as friends, because that would mean that there would be no hard feelings between him and Elliot if he were ever to ask Ally out. If he was unlucky… Well, Austin didn't want to think about that.

He stood up, tugging his pyjama shirt back over his chest as he shuffled out of his bedroom and to the front door. He couldn't hear anything outside, which meant that they either hadn't gotten back yet, or Austin's worst fears were confirmed and they were making out against the door. Did he say that he wanted Elliot to be punctual? He suddenly hoped that Elliot had lied and _wasn't_ punctual.

Curiosity and jealousy overwhelmed Austin and he eventually just looked through the peephole. Neither Elliot nor Ally were anywhere in sight, and a small sigh of relief fell from his lips. Unless…

 _What if they're making out in the bathroom of the restaurant?_

Before Austin's thoughts could continue in this alarming fashion, he heard a giggle outside the door and he looked back into the peephole. Austin couldn't see Ally's face, because her back was facing the door, but he could see Elliot smiling down at her.

 _Well_ , he thought bitterly. _I guess they didn't have an_ awful _time._

"All things considered, tonight was really fun," Elliot laughed, still smiling at Ally.

She chuckled slightly, and Austin watched as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger. He wanted her to turn around so he could see her expression, but he had to settle for just looking at Elliot. Why were peepholes so tiny?

"Same," Ally replied, rocking back and forth on her heels. "And I'd really like to do this again, y'know?"

Austin felt his heart drop into his feet.

"Well, of course," Elliot laughed, rolling his eyes. "Of course we'll do this again some time. Hey! Maybe next time you'll be able to tell me whether or not it worked out with you and certain _someone_ ," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

There was _another_ guy? Austin's jaw clenched. He couldn't even find it in himself to feel happy that it seemed as though Ally and Elliot had agreed to just stay as friends, and that they weren't planning on pursuing a romantic relationship with each other.

"Oh, shush," Ally giggled, swatting his chest lightly, before her hand went back to play with her hair. "No hard feelings, right?"

Elliot shook his head. "Of course not! I mean, I'm not really that surprised. You two have a lot of chemistry – it was kind of inevitable, y'know? I mean, I like you and all, but I also kind of thought maybe if I asked you out it would make him get all jealous and realise that you two would be great together, y'know?"

"You sly dog, you," Ally laughed, shoving him lightly again with a shake of her head, although she did seem awkward at how easily Elliot admitted that he liked her, but agreed that she would be happier with – well, _whoever_ they were talking about – and was willing to step out of the picture for the sake of her happiness.

Meanwhile, Austin was wracking his brain and trying to figure out who they were talking about. He entertained the idea that they were talking about _him_ – he certainly thought that there was an undeniable chemistry between himself and Ally, and he _had_ noticed Elliot's suggestive eyebrow waggles… But he didn't want to get his hopes up too high and Austin wasn't confident enough to say that it was definitely him that they were talking about. He hoped they were talking about him.

"I'll see you around, yeah?" Ally asked, and Austin could only imagine that she was giving Elliot one of those happy, excited grins of hers.

"Of course!" Elliot laughed, before he opened his arms wide for a hug. Ally stepped forward and hugged him, her small frame engulfed in his relatively larger one. They hugged for a little while, and Austin petulantly wondered why they had to hug for so long – wasn't a quick hug good enough for a goodbye? Goodbye, hug, leave. Ally's long hugs were reserved for _him_ , not Elliot.

"You better get inside," Elliot murmured, although neither of them moved. "I'm willing to believe Austin will go all 'fatherly' on my ass if I don't get you in soon," he added. Still, neither of them moved. It was as though they were saying a goodbye that was much more than just a 'see you around' kind of farewell. It was almost… almost as though they were saying goodbye to what _could_ have been; goodbye to the relationship that they could have had if _whoever_ they had been talking about earlier hadn't stepped into the picture. Austin wondered if he had imagined the way Elliot's fingers were digging into Ally's back.

Thankfully, they broke apart a few moments later, and Ally lifted her hand and wriggled her fingers in an awkward wave goodbye, and he gave her a thumbs up. Austin watched as Ally let out a little sigh, and then turned to face the apartment door while rummaging through her purse. He was then faced with the realisation that if she opened that door and saw him standing with his face pressed against the peephole, she would realise he had been spying on them, so without even waiting long enough for her to find her keys in her purse, he did the only thing he could think of to do in a rushed panic.

With a deranged yelp, Austin sprinted away from the door, into the living room, jumped over the back of the couch and rolled across the room to turn on the TV, before he rolled back to the couch and climbed onto it, laying across the length of it with the remote on his stomach as he focussed on calming his breathing so that Ally wouldn't notice his frantic dash. Almost as soon as he settled down into the couch, his heartbeat still beating much more rapidly than usual and his breathing still uneven, the door creaked open and he heard Ally walk in.

"Austin?" She called out, sounding confused.

"In here," Austin called out, his voice squeaking at the end. He was still gulping in deep breaths when Ally entered the room, and she looked even more confused than she had sounded.

"Uh… Is everything okay? Why are you so puffed out?" She asked gently, moving in front of the television. One of her hands clutched at the opposite arm awkwardly as she rocked back and forth on her heels, and Austin couldn't bring himself to care that she was blocking the TV. He hadn't been paying attention, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a mini work-out," he lied. "You know that's part of my nightly routine," he added, thinking that if he reminded her of his nightly routine (which he _had_ actually done earlier that night), she would accept his lie and move on.

"Oh," she said, raising an eyebrow and giving him the idea that she knew something that he didn't.

"Yup," he responded, popping the 'p'.

"Then I guess I was just being _paranoid_ or something, since I heard you yelp on the other side of the door and thought you had been _spying_ or something," she teased, folding her arms across her chest and cocking her hip to one side.

Austin cleared his throat and gave her a sheepish look. "That… _was_ my mini work-out?" He suggested, his voice squeaking.

Ally laughed, and she sat down on the armrest beside his head. "Why were you spying?" She asked curiously, looking down at him.

"He said he'd have you home by ten," he said defensively.

Once more, Ally laughed, and she rolled her eyes. "We were only running late by a couple of minutes," she pointed out.

"I had to make sure he wasn't doing anything _inappropriate_ ," Austin whispered loudly, widening his eyes dramatically and wriggling his fingers in an imitation of somebody telling a horror story.

"Why would it matter if he was doing something inappropriate?" Ally challenged, quirking an eyebrow, yet she still looked impossibly amused.

Austin shrugged and muttered something incoherently, but apparently this was enough for Ally because she smiled before shaking her head and standing up.

"Well, I'm gonna go to bed now," she said. "I'll see you in the morning," she added, turning and leaving the room.

Austin nodded, watching her leave, even though he had to awkwardly peer over the back of the couch. Once she was out of sight, he sighed and flopped pathetically onto the couch, placing a hand over chest, his heartbeat still erratic from his mad dash. Still, even so, a smile wormed its way onto his face because he knew that Ally wasn't going to go out with _Elliot_ again.

* * *

Anybody could easily tell that Austin Moon was fit. One glance at his muscular chest and arms would make it obvious that he worked out – but what wasn't well-known amongst the populace was that Austin was very, _very_ lazy, and that he _hated_ taking the stairs.

However, for some reason, the elevator in his apartment block was taking a very long time to reach the lobby, and Austin sighed, staring at his watch and tapping his foot impatiently. He was very eager to get up to his apartment and just relax after a long day at university, and contemplated taking the stairs. Just as Austin was about to give up and take the stairs, despite every lazy fibre of his body screaming at him to just wait for the elevator, the doors opened with a little ding and he stepped inside, relieved that he hadn't had to resort to the stairs.

Although, when Austin stepped in, he hadn't been expecting a familiar head of blonde hair to be already standing inside.

"P-Piper!" Austin exclaimed, looking nervous.

It wasn't as though he hadn't seen her since their break-up. They _did_ live in the same apartment block, after all, and he could only assume that she had gotten in the elevator in the underground carpark, which would explain why she had already been in the elevator when Austin stepped in.

"Oh, hi Austin," she greeted, looking equally nervous.

They stood in an awkward silence for a moment, before Austin cleared his throat.

"I heard about you and Miles," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?"

"You and Miles? Ally told me you were dating," he said, attempting to ease the awkwardness of the situation with small talk. "She also told me that you guys are a really cute couple and spent a really long time talking about how you guys have in-depth conversations comparing him and me."

Piper smiled awkwardly, playing with the tips of her hair. "Ah. Well, y'know how Ally and I enjoy our girl talk," she said shyly.

"I'm glad you're happy," he said sincerely. "Really."

"Thank you," Piper laughed. "Ally told me that you've been doing well. Like – I mean, she told me that you've been doing really well at the café recently," she added. "Like, she said you've been doing a lot of original songs instead of just covers." She smiled almost sadly. "I remember you used to talk about how you were going to write your own songs one day. I'm glad you've finally gotten to do that."

Austin laughed slightly, one hand in his pocket and the other still awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "It's all thanks to Ally, really. I'm still pretty shit with the lyrics, but she's really great. She's – yeah. Really great," he said, smiling dumbly just _thinking_ about Ally.

"How's it going with her, by the way?" Piper asked, looking genuinely curious.

"Whadduya mean?" Austin asked, tipping his head to the side.

Piper paused, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Aren't – aren't you guys a couple?"

Austin's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "N-no!" He exclaimed. "I mean, I'd – I'd _like_ to be but then – I mean, I don't think – I don't think she'd ever want to betray you like that, or anything, I mean, it's kind of awkward going out with your friend's ex, and I wouldn't want things between you two to be strained just because I have a crush on Ally or whatever and—"

She clamped her hand over his mouth, laughing slightly. Austin noticed that her laugh was back to normal, instead of the pained, forced laugh that he had gotten used to over the last few weeks of their relationship all those months ago. How long had it been now?

 _Four months_.

Wow.

"Look, I know you guys like each other," Piper laughed. "No hard feelings, Austin. I swear. I just want you to be happy, y'know? I'm – I'm really happy with Miles. And it would make me even happier to know that you're happy, too. So – I mean, if you like Ally, I think you should go for it."

It almost surprised Austin how sincere she sounded, as though she genuinely meant each word. Knowing Piper, she probably did – he still remembered the way that she always kept her cool and always tried her best not to hold grudges. It was one of her most admirable qualities – but it was strange to remember how he used to be in love with her for reasons similar to that, and now he felt…

Well, he didn't feel anything for her except a mutual respect and a sudden urge to her friend, no matter how awkward or bitter their break-up had been.

"Yeah?" He rasped, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Austin," she laughed again, her eyes sparkling. "If you like someone, you should go for it. Don't stand around dwelling on 'what ifs', because if you dwell on 'what ifs' you're never going to get anywhere in life – and you're never going to be able to get out of a bad situation, either. I mean… We spent a whole _month_ thinking 'what if we broke up? What if we're never happy with anybody else the way we are right now?' But eventually we ignored those 'what ifs' and – and, Austin, if I'm honest with you? I… I think that we're both a lot happier now than we ever were in our relationship – and I don't know about you, but I used to think that I could never be happier than I was then. So, I mean… If we hadn't kept listening to those 'what ifs', we could have reached this level of happiness a lot faster. My point is that 'what ifs' are dangerous, Austin. Don't let a 'what if' get in the way of your happiness."

The elevator doors opened with a _ding_ , and she smiled, giving him a little wave.

"I'll see you around, eh, Moon?"

Austin grinned, and stepped out of the elevator. "Yeah. I'll see you around."

The doors closed, and Austin was left smiling dumbly at the elevator as the girl he once thought he would spend the rest of his life continued up to her floor. He had never been entirely certain, never known for sure whether or not he and Piper would be 'forever' – and although they clearly hadn't been, there had been moments when he had desperately wished they would be. Her advice was useful, though, and he realised something important. He didn't just _think_ Ally was the girl he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He _knew_ Ally was the girl he would spend the rest of his life with.

And there was no way that he was going to let another 'what if' stand in his way.

* * *

The apartment was quiet when Austin got home, but he could see Ally's keys on the hook beside the door, so he knew that she had already gotten home before him. He figured that she was probably in her bedroom, so he went into the kitchen to grab an apple, trying to figure out the best way to ask Ally out. She had gone on that date with Elliot, but he also knew that she hadn't agreed to a second one because there was _someone else_ that she had a crush on. She hadn't said anything about a 'new crush' to _him_ , though, so Austin was almost certain that _he_ was the 'new crush', and that she liked him just as much as he liked her.

Well, perhaps not _quite_ as much, because he was almost positive that he was in love with her.

As Austin paced back and forth in the living room, munching away on his apple, he found himself consumed with 'what ifs' once more, despite his resolution not to let them get in the way. What if he was wrong and he _wasn't_ the guy Ally and Elliot had been talking about? What if he ended up looking stupid because he had assumed Ally liked him back? What if –

 _Don't let a 'what if' get in the way of your happiness._

He took a deep breath. Like Piper had said – there was no point in dwelling on the possibilities. He should just _do it_. With another deep breath, Austin nodded and threw his apple core in the bin, wiping his hand on his jeans, before he marched to Ally's door and raised his hand to knock on it. Before he could make any noise, however, he heard Ally giggling.

"Trish, no, it's not like that!" She managed to get out between giggles.

Austin felt his heart warm, and a smile flickered across his face as he leaned casually against her door, listening to her gleeful little laugh. He could only assume she was on her phone, or on Skype or something – but whatever the case was, he couldn't hear Trish's response. Ally began to giggle again, before she snorted that wonderful snort of hers, and his smile grew even wider.

"No, stop it. I already told you! We're _just_ friends." She began to giggle again, and Austin suddenly came to the realisation that they were talking about _boys_. Was he eavesdropping?

Well, he didn't really care whether or not he was, especially as he relaxed against her door and listened more carefully. He was curious – perhaps now was his chance to find out whether or not he had been imagining the spark he had felt between them.

"I know, I know, and – and I told you what happened the other day, right?" Ally's voice filtered through the door, sounding almost breathy. "I mean… I mean, he's never been exactly _subtle_ before, so I guess I'm not really surprised that he would be so… y'know, _obvious_ ," she said, giggling again. _Nervous laughter_. It was a trait Austin had noticed a while ago, since she had a tendency to giggle whenever she got uncomfortable or nervous.

"Yeah, yeah, I mean, maybe. I'll – I'll let _him_ make the first move, y'know? … _Oh_ , pft, that's so not true, Trish. I mean, it's just… Shut up! I don't know. I guess it _is_ kind of awkward. Like, we pretend it's not but it is. I see him _every day_ , Trish, and it's not really like I can _avoid_ him."

Things were awkward between them? Austin didn't feel like anything was awkward. He frowned.

"But there's so much chemistry with me and—"

She paused, and Austin could only assume Trish had cut her off.

"Yeah, you're right. I mean, I don't want to ruin our friendship with this. I know he told me to! I know he told me that I should do this, but I still feel _bad_. And it's kind of annoying, he's constantly just _around_. And it's like, he doesn't know how to leave me alone. He's just always _there_. He's always all, 'Oh, Ally! We should do something later! Oh, Ally, did you get my text? Oh, Ally! Our friendship is really important'." She sighed. "Like, I love him to pieces, I do. He's one of my closest friends – but, just - _ugh_ , I can't believe I used to _actually_ have a crush on him, just because of his nice face and cute butt. Well, yeah, Piper told me from the start that it wasn't going to go anywhere and that I should do everyone a favour and just get over him. Like, I don't know. We don't have much in common, I guess."

All of a sudden, Austin found himself desperately hoping that he was not the topic of this conversation. With a sinking feeling inside, Austin stepped away from her door.

 _So much for ignoring the 'what ifs'._

* * *

It had been almost three days since Austin had overheard Ally's phone conversation, and those three days had been filled with nothing but awkwardness. He had been trying to figure out the best way to ask if it _had_ been him she had been talking about, or if he was overreacting for nothing, and as a result, he had accidentally ended up avoiding Ally. It was no surprise to Austin when she apparently had had enough of his awkwardness, and marched right up to him late on a Saturday evening.

"Austin," she said, folding her arms across her chest and glaring down at him. Since he was lying across the couch, it seemed that for once she was finally taller than him.

"Ally," he nodded, giving her an awkward smile.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" She demanded, looking peeved.

Austin rolled his eyes and sat up. "I haven't been avoiding you," he said calmly, patting the spot on the couch beside him and turning off the television. He could tell that she wanted to have a proper conversation, so he smiled at her encouragingly.

For a moment, Ally looked between him and the spot he had just patted, before she sighed and sat down with her back against the armrest so that she was facing him, bringing her knees up to her chest and fiddling with the nail polish on her toes. She looked so lost and vulnerable that all Austin wanted to do was pull her into his chest and whisper sweet nothings into her hair until she was feeling better, but he refrained. Instead, he turned to face her as well, sitting cross legged and leaning his side against the back of the couch. Neither of them sat with their back to the back of the couch, and they sat there for a little while, just staring at one another.

"You've been all distant lately," she said quietly, looking down at her toes.

"Have I?"

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence, and Austin cleared his throat. "I've been thinking of moving out."

Ally's jaw dropped and her gaze snapped up to meet his, looking wild and panicked. "Wh-what? Why?"

"I don't want you to feel like you're obligated to let me live here or anything," he mumbled, picking at the thread of the couch cushion. "I know I'm kind of annoying and I'm just always _around_ so I thought maybe it would be better for you if I stepped back and let you, y'know, have this place to yourself again…"

"Austin, that's ridiculous," Ally sighed, before a look of genuine amusement spread over her features, as though she were suddenly coming to a realisation. "Is that why you've been so distant recently? You're worried I find you _annoying_? Oh, Austin," she laughed, shaking her head. She moved her legs off of the couch and leaned forward to grab his hands, giving his considerably larger hands a small squeeze whilst looking at him sincerely. "You're my best friend, dumbass. I love having you around."

"So – so you weren't talking about me?" He asked, now his turn to look vulnerable.

Her head tipped to the side, and it suddenly became apparent to Austin that she had had no idea he had been eavesdropping. Her nose scrunched up in confusion and she raised an eyebrow, looking utterly befuddled until her eyes widened with realisation and she dropped his hands, looking miffed.

"You were _eavesdropping_ on me!" She exclaimed. "The other day, when I was on the phone with Trish!"

Austin's eyes widened comically, but he didn't want to lie to her. Instead, Austin simply hung his head in shame. "I overheard you guys talking," he admitted. "But I heard you say 'he's just around all the time' – I _know_ you were talking about me!"

Ally's eyes flashed dangerously, and she stood up, and began to pace back and forth. "I can't believe you would just invade my privacy like that, Austin," she said sternly, glaring at him.

He gulped.

"And maybe if you had actually _asked_ me about it, you'd know that we had been talking about _Elliot_ ," she added snippily. "You conceited, self-absorbed –"

"Ally," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and cutting her off. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping, really. But I also did genuinely think you were talking about me and that you were sick of _me_."

"Maybe if you took your head out of your _ass_ for long enough to stop _eavesdropping_ on conversations that are _none of your business_ , you'd actually realise that my life does _not_ revolve around _you_!" She snapped.

"Damn, you're angry," Austin muttered, folding his arms and looking like a petulant child.

" _What_ was that?!"

An annoyed look passed over Austin's features as he also stood, folding his arms across his chest and peering down at her. "I _said_ , 'damn, you're angry'. You're blowing this way out of proportion."

" _I'm_ blowing this out of proportion? You're the one who said you wanted to move out just because you _thought_ that I don't enjoy living with you! Of course I enjoy living with you, dickbag," she exclaimed, swatting his chest.

Austin didn't know how to respond to that. On one hand, she was yelling at him, but on the other… she had admitted that she liked living with him.

"Just calm down, Ally. Why are you even so mad?"

"Because _apparently_ , I have a crush on a _dumbass_ who doesn't understand the meaning of 'privacy', and apparently doesn't realise that I _love_ sharing an apartment with him!" She exclaimed, before she realised what she had just said and clamped a hand over her mouth. "I – I—" she stuttered before she shook her head. "Forget I said that. I'm going to bed."

"Wait, Ally!" Austin exclaimed, grabbing her wrist. Did she really think he was going to let her go after a confession like that?

"Austin, I don't want to talk about it," she mumbled, attempting to pull free.

"You have feelings for me?" He asked her seriously, requiring some kind of confirmation, because he still wasn't sure if he believed it.

With an annoyed grunt, Ally finally tore her arm free, and glared at him. " _Yes_ ," she said grumpily. Before he could respond, she put a finger to his lips and shook her head. "But don't freak out. Nothing has to change, and nothing is going to change," she said, backing away in the direction of her bedroom.

"But, Ally –"

" _No,_ Austin," she sighed and turned around, her hand on the knob of her bedroom. "I – it's fine, okay? I'm sorry to make you feel uncomfortable." She said, still facing her door before she entered her bedroom and shut it.

Well, Austin wasn't having any of that. With a roll of his eyes, he got up and followed her to her bedroom, knocking on the door loudly.

"But, Ally, I like you too!" He exclaimed, no longer afraid of the 'what ifs'.

"Leave me alone, Austin!"

"But, Ally!" He whined, knocking more rapidly on the door. "You don't have to feel bad! I like you too – heck, I think I – I think that I might even be in _lo_ —"

The door swung open, and Austin found his fist wriggling uselessly against nothing, and Ally looked at him with an amused quirk of her eyebrow.

"I get it," she laughed. "You like me, and I like you. But _Austin_ , I'm still mad at you for eavesdropping. I just want to sleep. Can we just – can we just talk in the morning?" She asked, looking defeated.

"But I wanna talk _now_."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Austin. Please. Just leave me alone and we'll discuss this in the morning. Okay?"

Austin paused, and bit his lip. "…Okay."

She smiled, and patted his cheek, but before she could move away, Austin leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't a long kiss, nor was it particularly breath-taking – it was really more of a quick peck then a kiss – but it was short and sweet and he felt as though he couldn't make it any more obvious how he felt for the petite brunette. She smiled shyly at him and then stood on her tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

"We'll talk in the morning. I promise," she said, before she closed the door.

A dopey look overcame his features and he smiled dumbly at the closed door, before he spun in a circle and sighed happily. If a kiss from Ally Dawson and a confession that she liked him too was what he got for eavesdropping on her…

Well, perhaps he would just eavesdrop a little more often.

* * *

 **A/N: AcK! Again, I'm so, so,** _ **so**_ **sorry that this is so late! I hope the chapter was worth the wait, guys. I really liked the encounter with Piper but I'm kind of 'meh' about the rest of it. I promise that the next chapter has lots and lots and LOTS of cuteness in it!**

 **Important question though – do we want to see more of Ally's POV? Because I may make the next chapter in her POV, but then again, I might not.**

 **Also – next chapter is the last chapter! :( Should I do an epilogue?**

 **Replies to you lovely reviewers!:**

 **Lookin' For Treble:** I WAS DYING WHEN I WAS WRITING IT HONESTLY I WAS LIKE "DAMN THIS IS SO CUTE"

 **micahDBG:** Oh my gosh, you are too sweet! I'm a _muse_?! AW SHUCKS. Shoot me a PM when you write that AU! I'd love to read it :)

 **Ionita Ana-Maria:** Even if you haven't been reviewing, the important thing is you've been reading and enjoying! And like I said earlier, it's up to you to decide whether or not she is – so if you want her to be one, then she is one! Hooray!

 **maddiegirl56:** I HOPE THIS CHAPTER MET YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND I LOVE YOU TOO

 **Adorakablerauraxauslly:** Weeeeeeell, I've postponed their official "getting together" by one more chapter, but I have a feeling the ending of this one makes up a bit for it ;)

 **Samlie:** BRO I'M FREAKING OUT SO MUCH _YOU LIKED MY SAPPY SPIELS_ AHHHHHHH! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and I hope this one was just as good :D (Although personally I'm a little meh about this chapter lololol)

 **cornyshor:** Omg babe you stayed up late on a school night to read this?! I'M SO HONOURED, REALLY. I'm so happy you enjoyed it, love.

 **Dont-Stop-Believin:** Hehe! I liked those bits too. I hope I didn't make you wait too long :D

 **Luckystarz910:** Oh my gosh! It was your birthday?! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, MY DEAR. I'm so sorry that I ended the chapter on such a dreary note, but hopefully the ending of _this_ chapter was enough to restore your faith in me. I did consider having him become irrationally jealous and starting a fight, but then I realised that he doesn't like fighting with her so I stuck to just irrationally jealous ;)

 **Icruzadosilva:** Oooh, did I just teach you something? Man, I'm didactic! You've got me shivering in anticipation omg. Your review said "This chapter was" AND THERE WAS NOTHING AFTER IT! What was the chapter?! AHhHHhh.

 **LoveShipper:** Weeeeeeeeeell, technically she did agree to it but she also told Elliot (on the date) that she likes Austin and that's why they didn't go on a second date.

 **MusicLover4Life23:** AHAHAHA omg. I hope the ending of this one was more to your liking ;)

 **Guest:** Ahh! Thank you, love. I personally liked Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 the most, as well :D

 **Guest2:** I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long ;)

 **BeautyStrays:** HAHA. I'm sorry for the wait, really, but like you said in your review – I have long chapters! There were lots of times around 3000 words that I thought "eh I'll just post it now" but I know you guys look forward to long chapters so I hope this was worth the wait :D

 **rauraaddict:** Pls you're so cute! Thank you very much, all your kind words really encourage me with in writing.

 **Aznmissy04:** Bae :* Your support in writing this chapter has been so special to me.

 **HeartSoulForever:** I LOVE subverting the general stereotypes, and it just seemed to me that Ally would really like thunderstorms, y'know? Because Austin's more of a 'sun' kind of person and she's more of a 'rain' kind of person. Thank you! I hope the drama in this chapter met your expectations ;)

 **phia514:** Aw, thank you. I know you wanted a shorter chapter and a speedier update, so I am sorry that this is so late but hopefully it's long enough that you'll forgive me :P

 **TheLubi:** Ah, thanks! :D

 **Chubby bunny:** You're so sweet! Definitely one of my favourite reviewers – I always look forward to your reviews :D

 **laurasbxbe:** I hope the ending of this chapter was a little better ahahahaha. Thank you so much, love! This review was very motivating, because I was in a bit of slump with my writing but then I got the notification of this review and it made me want to update.

 **Nikki:** I'm sorry for the late update! I hope that this chapter was worth the wait :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: let me live**

 **Word Count: 12 875**

 **A/N: WOW. This is an incredibly long chapter. I hope that the 44 day wait was worth this! Stay hydrated, folks. (Also, shout out to Maddie and Faith for putting up with me while I went through writer's block and spammed them with clingy messages of how much I love them.)**

 **Also – a guest who went by the pseudonym "hello" pointed out to me that my story is a google search suggestion. What?! That's so cool! I just typed in "and it smells" and one of the first options were "and it smells like coffee austin and ally" like WHAT?! That's INSANE. GUYS.**

 **Without further ado, I present you with the final chapter of _And It Smells Like Coffee._**

* * *

Ally was having the nicest dream about waffles. Oh, and Austin was there too. But it was mainly the waffle thing that she was happy about.

In fact, the dream was _so_ good, that she could practically _smell_ the waffles. Austin danced up to her, but he looked like a waffle. She wondered if he tasted like waffles, too. Waffle Austin looked like _her_ Austin, with Austin's face and Austin's legs and Austin's _arms_ – oh, _gosh_ , Waffle Austin had fan _tas_ tic arms – but Waffle Austin cut off Ally's inappropriate thoughts about his arms.

"I like you too! I think that I might even be in _lo_ —"

"Waffle Austin, you smell good," Ally interrupted. It seemed that she couldn't stop thinking about what he had called out to her the night before, not even in her dreams.

Waffle Austin was still dancing; he was dancing for her, his every move somehow bringing himself impossibly closer to her. She would have swooned if he didn't look so ridiculous – after all, Waffle Austin was no more than a waffle with Austin's arms, legs, and head.

"Ally," Waffle Austin said once more. "I think that I might even be in _lo_ —"

Ally interrupted him again. "Smells so good," she mumbled dreamily, wrapping her arms around Waffle Austin. She had expected him to feel sticky and be warm, like a waffle, but he wasn't. Instead, he felt like a pillow and was soft like one too. He didn't even smell like waffles – he smelled like vanilla and old books instead of leather jackets and potato chips. If Waffle Austin wasn't going to smell like waffles, shouldn't he at least smell like _her_ Austin?

"Ally," Waffle Austin murmured, and his voice sounded closer. She wondered if it was because her ear was pressed against his waffle-y chest.

"Waffles," she mumbled, hugging him even tighter.

"Ally, wake up," he laughed. She found it weird that his chest didn't seem to shake when he laughed. Ally liked _her_ Austin more than Waffle Austin – when she hugged _him_ , and he laughed, she would be able to feel his whole chest moving, hear his laugh reverberating through her ears and filling her whole body with the sensation of being lost in him. Waffle Austin just felt like a pillow.

Instead of replying, Ally simply buried her nose further into his chest, feeling calm. She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently nudging her, and reluctantly, she pulled her nose away from his chest but her eyes remained shut.

"Wake up," he said again, and she yawned.

When Ally opened her eyes that morning, she hadn't been expecting a plate of waffles to be on her bed beside her face, or a pair of dark brown eyes staring intently at her.

"Ah!" She screamed, rolling in the opposite direction. Ally misjudged the distance and rolled _too_ far, however, and found herself lying on her back on the floor with an acute yet dull pain in the back of her head. It felt like there was no air in her body, as she took in a shuddering gasp and placed a hand over her heart, attempting to soothe the racing beat.

A moment later, that same pair of brown eyes were peering cautiously over the edge of the bed at her, sprawled out over the floor.

"Ally?" He repeated again hesitantly.

Normally, Ally would have felt angry and would have snapped at him to leave her bedroom – after all, she was _not_ a morning person – but he looked so _cute_ , dammit, with just his nose and eyes peeking out over the edge of her bed, and a vulnerable expression in his wide eyes. Instead of yelling or getting mad, she groaned and threw an arm over her eyes dramatically, trying to focus on how to get rid of the pain in her head.

"What do you want, Austin?" She said after a moment, letting out another pained noise as she sat up slowly. She leaned back on her elbows, her legs still strewn out in front of her, before she glanced up at him.

Austin sat up from his place on her bed as well, and she watched with amusement as he wriggled off her bed, grabbing the forgotten plate of waffles, and scurried around the bed to sit in front of her. He sat down, cross-legged, and set the plate between them. "I made you try-hard pancakes," he said.

"I can see that," Ally said, raising an eyebrow. She tried her best to look unimpressed with him, but she knew that there was a small smile on her face – and she _wasn't_ upset with him, even though there was still a dull throb in the back of her head and she was still vaguely grumpy that he had woken her up early in the morning to give her _waffles_ – but he just looked so… _happy_ , and she couldn't find it in herself to be upset with him when he just wanted to impress her with his waffle-making abilities, even though she knew he preferred pancakes and thought that waffles were just 'try-hard pancakes'.

There was an awkward silence where neither of them said anything, and Austin rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably before he looked at her with a grin. "It's morning! Let's talk now!"

"We're already talking."

"Shut up! You know what I mean."

Ally was silent, though an impish smile spread across her features. When it became clear that she wasn't going to respond, Austin's brow furrowed in confusion, until a look of understanding washed over his features.

"Ha, ha, very funny," he griped. "I didn't _literally_ mean 'shut up'."

"You're sending me mixed signals, Austin," she said cheekily. "First you tell me you want to talk, then you tell me to shut up, and then you tell me you didn't _literally_ mean 'shut up'," she mocked.

"You promised we'd talk in the morning," he said petulantly, pouting at her.

Ally's stomach grumbled before she could say anything else, and she raised an eyebrow before standing.

"Where're you going?" He asked, picking up the plate of waffles and standing as well, although it was clear that he was having trouble keeping his eyes focussed on hers. Ally bit her lip to stop herself from laughing in amusement as his eyes roamed up and down her bare legs while she looked through her wardrobe for a pair of sweatpants.

 _Perhaps she should start wearing pants to sleep –_ just _to torture him a little._

"I have to brush my teeth, don't I?"

Austin's face scrunched in confusion. "Why don't you eat first and _then_ brush your teeth? Your delicious try-hard pancakes are just going to get cold otherwise."

"They're not try-hard pancakes, they're _waffles_ ," Ally muttered, pulling on the pants.

"Just brush your teeth after breakfast. Your teeth are just going to get all icky again after you eat your _try-hard pancakes_ ," he smirked.

"Ew!" Ally exclaimed, wrinkling her nose with distaste. "Then I'll have the gross teeth-fuzz taste in my mouth while I'm trying to enjoy my delicious try-hard panca— _waffles_! They're _waffles_."

"Try-hard pancakes," Austin sang.

Ally rolled her eyes. "Let me live," she moaned dramatically, before she kissed him on the cheek, which effectively rendered him speechless as he began to splutter and stutter and turn red in embarrassment.

 _Hm,_ she thought, as she walked past his tomato-red figure and made her way to the bathroom. _A new way to shut him up._

A few moments later, while Ally was brushing her teeth, she saw Austin standing in the doorway of the bathroom through the reflection of the mirror, sans waffles. She rolled her eyes before raising an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged before he moved to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. He met her eye in the reflection of the mirror and gave her a small smile. Ally, with her mouth filled with toothpaste and foam, simply raised an eyebrow and gave him a look as though to ask 'what the _hell_ are you doing?' because she was brushing her teeth, and whilst she found the gesture cute and definitely enjoyed the feeling of his chest against her back, it was still kind of weird that he would just hug her while she was brushing her teeth.

"Au-shan," she mumbled, trying not to let any of the toothpaste dribble out of her mouth. "Move," she added, before she attempted to lean forward and spit out the toothpaste.

"Ew!" Austin exclaimed, recoiling as she rinsed her toothbrush and her mouth, gargled, and then spat back into the sink.

"Well, Austin, I was brushing my teeth," she snapped, putting her toothbrush away before turning around with her hands on her hips. "What else did you expect? That I'd melt into your arms and kiss you, all the toothpaste magically gone?"

"I just wanted a hug," he mumbled, pouting at her. "I got all lonely waiting for you."

Oh, _goodness_ , she couldn't resist the pout.

"You're so goddamn clingy and you haven't even asked me out on a date yet," she muttered, swatting his chest before she stepped towards him and gave him a hug to take the sting out of her words. "Better?" She teased, tilting her head up and grinning at him.

Austin smiled and bumped his nose against hers. "Much," he said, and his lips were suddenly on hers before she could even come up with a snappy retort.

It was all too easy to melt into his kiss, and Ally's hands slid up his chest and up to his face. She rubbed a hand along his jawline, tracing her thumb back and forth against it, marvelling at how it moved as he kissed her. The other hand traced past his collarbone and neck to fiddle with the longer bits of hair at the nape of his neck. She felt him smile into the kiss as his arms tightened around her waist, before he seemed to give up on that and instead placed his hands against the small of her back and literally _pressed_ her into him, as though she wasn't close enough and he needed her to be closer. Ally mentally thanked their chosen careers as musicians, because it meant that they had both spent their whole lives training to breathe in a certain way, so as to maximise lung capacity, so she didn't have to pull away to breathe for a very long time. She suddenly understood what Piper meant when she said that Austin's lips were _delectable._

Eventually, they broke apart, but Austin stole another quick kiss before he rested his forehead against hers, sporting the dopiest grin she had ever seen on anybody in her entire life. His gaze travelled through hers, before he moved one of his hands up from her back and gently cupped her jaw, stroking his thumb over her swollen lips. His other arm encircled her entire waist, securing her against his chest while she marvelled at how his arm was big enough to circle her _whole_ waist. Austin didn't say anything for a long time, as he just continued to gaze down at her, as though admiring the way she looked after he had thoroughly kissed her, with her lips swollen and her cheeks flushed, and then he bit his lip. (Ally wished _she_ was the one biting that lip.)

"So, Ally," he began, moving his hand away from her face so that he could play with the tips of her hair. "Can we have that talk now?"

Ally raised an eyebrow tilted her head to the side, feigning confusion. "What talk?" She asked innocently, moving her hands away from his face and neck to gently rub up and down those glorious arms of his.

"The talk about how you like me and I like you," he said with a pout, clearly not in the mood for her teasing.

"Hmm, doesn't ring a bell," she said, still feigning innocence.

"Allyyyy _yyyyy_ ," He whined, pinching the bridge of his nose with exasperation – but he kept a secure grip around her waist with his other arm.

"You know, I think my waffles are going cold," she said, wriggling out of his grip, before she gave him a coy smile and traced her hand from his upper arm to his wrist. "C'mon, let's go eat the _waffles_ before they get cold," she added, before she pulled him out of the bathroom.

"They're _try-hard pancakes_ ," Austin grumbled, but he allowed her to drag him to the kitchen nonetheless.

"You're so immature," she laughed, humming as she picked up the plate of waffles that Austin had made. There was a large stack of them, and they had gotten cold – he had evidently woken up early to make them and had forgotten that she liked to sleep in – so she popped them into the microwave before she wandered over to the fridge to pull out a bottle of juice. Once that was on the table, she smiled at him and then leaned against the counter, her eyes on the microwave and counting down the seconds. "Let's eat first, and _then_ I'll be ready to talk."

Immediately, Austin was in front of her, a hand on either side of her and gripping the counter to essentially cage her between his body and the counter behind her. Ally raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest, giving him her best _unimpressed_ look, but he simply smirked and casually pressed himself closer to her. He dipped his head and she almost thought he was going to kiss her again, but suddenly his lips were against her ear and a pleasant tingle shot down her spine.

"I'm ready to have that talk _now_ ," he insisted, his voice deep and husky.

Ally blinked, trying to clear the hazy feeling that was clouding her senses, and cleared her throat. "Uh – um – I –"

"You _promised_ we'd talk in the morning," he added, his lips brushing against her ear, and his warm breath washing over her neck.

Just as Ally thought that perhaps she had gotten control over the butterflies and tingling sensations dancing up and down her spine, she felt his teeth on the shell of her ear, lightly tugging it before he trailed a line of kisses from her ear, down the side of her neck, all the way to the junction where her shoulder met her neck.

" _Oh_ ," she breathed, tilting her head back slightly to expose more of her neck to him, her hands sliding up his chest to comb through his hair, keeping that talented mouth of his right where it was.

She felt him chuckle against her skin, and before she could even feel indignant at his obvious amusement to her reaction, the microwave beeped loudly. She flinched at the sudden noise, but Austin didn't move – if anything, he pressed himself further against her, preventing her from moving away to collect the food from the microwave. She rolled her eyes and wriggled, attempting to pull free so that she could collect the food. It was as though he knew that she would use the microwave as an excuse to pull away and avoid _the talk_ , because just as she felt as though she had wriggled enough to get out of his grip, his lips suddenly attached themselves to her collarbone and she let out another breathy _oh_ as she threw her head back, which only caused her collarbone to protrude even further and allowed him to pepper it with even more kisses.

Once he seemed satisfied that he had rendered her speechless, his lips travelled up the column of her throat and then met her lips again, where he kissed her thoroughly and she found herself gripping his shoulders pathetically and muttering incoherent praises of his talents in the kissing department. If he was that good at _kissing_ , she wondered what _else_ he was good at…

Before her thoughts could continue to travel in an alarmingly perverse manner, he tipped his head back and smirked at her, every inch of his body still pressed against hers. She bit her lip and looked at him with dark eyes. The microwave had gone silent by now, since they had left it too long without opening the door, and the thought crossed her mind that she might have to heat those waffles up again.

"So, Ally," Austin said, raising an eyebrow and still using that same husky voice on her.

"Uh – um – hmm?" Ally managed to get out, blinking at him stupidly.

"You wouldn't do this with just _anyone_ , would you, Ally?" he teased, raising an eyebrow at her.

Again, all Ally was able to do was make incoherent splutters and shake her head, her heartbeat and breathing still erratic. It almost made her feel ashamed, to know how easily he could turn her into a stuttering pile of goo.

He smirked, clearly pleased with her reaction, before he leaned in again to whisper in her ear once more. "Ally," he hummed, "will you be my girlfriend?"

"Um – uh-huh, mm," she said, nodding awkwardly, still not entirely sure to phrase a coherent sentence – especially not when he gave her that _look_ or said her name like that.

With an incredibly smug look still plastered to his handsome features, Austin casually pulled away from her, his smirk only growing when she let out a pathetic little whimper at the loss of the feeling of his body pressed against hers. She watched him with wide eyes as he casually hustled and bustled about the kitchen, preparing their waffles and setting the table, before he sat down and began to eat.

Once Ally was able to breathe again she shot him a glare. He paused, his fork poised halfway to his mouth, and his mouth open. He raised both his eyebrows, before setting his fork down and tipping his head to the side, clasping his hands together and holding them to his lips.

"What?" He asked, looking slightly scared.

"You _tricked_ me," she grumbled, shuffling over to the table, before she plopped down into the chair opposite to him and cut into the waffles with vigour. "You can't just _seduce_ me and then ask me to be your girlfriend."

Austin smirked. "That's so funny, because I'm pretty sure that that's _exactly_ what I just did."

"Asshole."

"Hey, that's no way to talk to your loving boyfriend," he mocked, before he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, running a thumb over the back of it soothingly and giving her a small smile. "I'm really happy that you agreed to be my girlfriend, but I promise that if you don't _actually_ want to be my girlfriend, there won't be any hard feelings. I just want you to be happy, okay? I'm perfectly fine sitting in the friend-zone, if me being in the friend-zone is what makes you happiest."

Ally felt her heart warm at his words. It made her feel _safe_ , to know that he wouldn't bitch about being placed in the fabled 'friend zone' if she so wished it, and that she wouldn't lose him even if she got scared about their relationship taking on a new level. However, she also knew that she liked him a lot more than she had ever liked anybody else, and that she wanted this just as much as he appeared to want it. With a shy bite of her lip, Ally gave his hand a little squeeze and smiled at him. She stood up from her chair and wandered over to his side of the table, before she sat down on his lap, side-saddle style, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You're the cutest boyfriend ever," she declared, and his face lit up when she referred to him as her _boyfriend_.

"And you're the cutest _girlfriend_ ever," he responded back quietly, burying his face in her hair for a moment, his arms wrapped around her tightly. It wasn't long before his lips found hers, the _try-hard pancakes_ long forgotten.

* * *

Ally was running late. She always felt horrible whenever she was running late, because being late meant that she had lied when she said she would be there at a certain time, and she always made an effort to be early. Since she was normally early to work meetings, and was generally a good employee, she knew that Ronnie wouldn't _mind_ if she was late, but it was the mere principle of being late that she despised.

It wasn't _her_ fault at she was running late. It was _clearly_ Austin's fault, since _he_ was the one who had walked into her bedroom at eight in the morning. _He_ was the one who had wrapped his strong arms around her. _He_ was the one who had mumbled something about not being able to sleep when he knew that his girlfriend was sleeping without cuddles in the very next room. _He_ had been the one to mope and pout when she eventually pulled herself out of bed, protesting to Austin that she had to meet Ronnie at precisely eleven because he said he had some kind of surprise for her. _He_ had been the one to grab her wrist and pull her back into their apartment, press her against the door, and kiss her until she had forgotten that she even had a meeting with Ronnie in the first place.

So, _yes_ , Ally _was_ running late – but _no_ , it was not _her_ fault.

When Ally eventually made it to Ronnie's office, she looked into the room and found him sitting at his desk, checking his watch impatiently. A flood of embarrassment rushed through her and she waved at him awkwardly, feeling like a high school student who had stumbled late into class on a Monday morning.

"Ronnie, hey, I'm sorry I'm late," she said, sitting down in the chair opposite to him.

Ronnie looked up and raised an eyebrow, before he smiled and shook his head. "It's alright, Ally. You're normally early, anyway. I think I can excuse you just this once."

With a sigh of relief, Ally nodded and ran a hand through her hair. "Thank you."

"Right, well, let's get to business then, shall we?"

Once again, Ally smiled and nodded. Ronnie shuffled through some papers on the desk, before he procured a CD case with the word _DEMO_ _– Single #4_ and Ally's employee ID number written neatly across the case. She realised immediately that it was the demo she had handed in all those months ago, with the song that she and Austin had recorded. Confusion painted itself across her features and she cocked her head to the side, waiting for Ronnie to expand.

"Does Mr Moon still wish to sign with a label?" He asked, cutting to the chase.

Ally's jaw dropped and she nodded rapidly, unable to articulate a coherent sentence.

Ronnie smiled and handed the CD case to her. "Well, an associate from Starr Records has recently informed me that they're looking for a new artist. I forwarded the demo along to them, and they agreed to give Mr Moon a chance. The business card is in the case," he explained.

"Thank you so much!" Ally exclaimed, standing up and leaning over his desk to hug him. "Austin's going to be thrilled!"

Ronnie laughed and patted her awkwardly on the back. "Wish him luck for me, will you?"

Ally's grin grew even wider. "I will!"

* * *

"Austin?" Ally called hesitantly as she stepped into the apartment. He had told her earlier that he would be studying at the library for his upcoming college exams until late tonight, so she wasn't sure if he would be home. When there was no reply, she decided that he mustn't be home yet, so she hummed cheerfully to herself as she shrugged off her jacket and hung it neatly on the hook by the door, along with her purse.

Over the past four days since Austin had declared himself her boyfriend, she had found that she hadn't had the apartment to herself. She loved living with Austin, but now that they were dating she wondered if it was weird that they were still roommates – but then again, she reflected thoughtfully, they still had their separate bedrooms, even if Austin _had_ snuck into her room each morning to cuddle her before she had to get out of bed. That meant that they weren't really _'living together_ ', right?

As Ally walked through the apartment, she noticed Austin's laptop open on the coffee table, although the screen was black as though he had left it open and it had gone into sleep mode. She also noticed open folders of sheet music and notes, an empty coffee cup (without a coaster, dammit!) and a plate with crumbs on it on the table. Feeling very suspicious, Ally tiptoed across the room to the couch and peered over the back of it, and her suspicions were confirmed when she was greeted with a shock of blonde hair pressed into the couch cushion, and the shapely sight of Austin's shirtless back. She stifled a giggle, figuring he must have decided to study at home instead of the library – she knew that sometimes he felt uncomfortable in libraries since they were so quiet – and he must have fallen asleep. He was still wearing jeans, and Ally found it unusual that he would take off his shirt to be more comfortable, but not his jeans. The first thing _she_ normally wriggled out of when she wanted to get comfortable was her jeans – not that she was complaining, though, because she was definitely enjoying the sight of Austin's exposed back, just plainly there for her to see. There was a bonus that he was asleep with his face pressed into the cushion, because he couldn't see her leering at him.

After a few more seconds of admiring the contours, dips, and curves of his _glorious_ back muscles, Ally smiled and shook her head before ambling into the bathroom to take a shower. As she hummed and shampooed, she contemplated that perhaps dating her roommate wasn't as bad or as weird as she had initially thought. She had been worried that being in the same apartment all the time would fill the air with sexual tension which would lead to awkwardness between the pair, especially considering they had made a mutual decision to take things slowly. She had also worried that they would get sick of seeing each other every single day, but if anything, seeing each other each day only made her happier than usual. Nothing had really changed in their friendship, except that now Austin would sneak into her room early in the morning to cuddle her in bed, even when there was no thunderstorm, and they would often sneak up on each other and surprise the other with a kiss. _Sneakisses_ , Ally liked to call them. Whilst they had only been officially dating for four days, she had a feeling that things were going to be just fine.

By the time that Ally had dried her hair and changed into her pyjamas, it was almost time for dinner and Austin was still asleep. If the crumbs on his plate were anything to judge by, Austin had already eaten, so Ally warmed up leftovers from the night before and ate in silence. She wondered if she should wake him up, since sleeping on the couch all night definitely wouldn't be comfortable, and she figured that he would probably want to at least change into his pyjamas. Once she had finished washing up, she wandered into the living room and crouched in front of the couch.

Austin was still asleep, with his face buried into the cushion. She smiled at the sight of his nose crushed awkwardly against the cushion, but the rest of his face appeared relaxed. Ally placed a perfectly-manicured hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Austin?" She whispered, squeezing his shoulder gently again.

He mumbled something incoherent against the pillow, and lazily made shooing gestures at her without moving the rest of his body.

Ally laughed slightly and rolled her eyes before she gave him another gentle squeeze. When he still didn't response, she rolled her eyes and gave him a not-so-gentle shove, and he groaned before he lifted his face from the pillow, wincing slightly as the light of the room suddenly entered his vision.

" _What_?" He sighed, rolling onto his side and draping an arm over his eyes.

"I – um…" She trailed off awkwardly. Her eyes were downcast and she bit her lip, feeling silly now. If she had just let him be, he could still be resting peacefully – surely sleeping on the couch wasn't _that_ bad, was it?

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Austin moved his arm away from his eyes and squinted at her. When he recognised the look she wore, the one she always had on whenever she was embarrassed or nervous, his eyes softened and he shuffled closer to the back of the couch before patting the free space. He held his arms open and cocked his head expectantly, and Ally bit her lip again before smiling shyly at him and crawling onto the couch beside him, mirroring his position and lying on her side. Immediately, his arm draped over her waist and pulled her close to him.

"Hello," he murmured to her, dropping a kiss against her hairline. "How was your day?"

Ally smiled at him, her cheeks distinctly warm from his affection. "It was okay. On the way home from work, I saw a squirrel! It was so cute! Oh! Oh, and I have a surprise for you," she said happily, absently running a hand up and down the front of his chest. She found it a little unusual that his chest was mostly hairless, yet he still had a fine trail of hair from his belly button that disappeared enticingly under the waistband of his pants. She briefly wondered if he ever waxed his chest. She wouldn't be surprised – she sometimes felt as though he put more effort into his appearance than she put into hers.

"Oh?" He smirked, although it was a sleepy smirk. She hated how adorable she found it.

"Yup," she responded easily, popping the _p_ at the end. "But I'll tell you about that later. How was _your_ day?"

"Well," he drawled lazily, raising an eyebrow. "This morning I woke up and realised that my girlfriend was sleeping without cuddles in the very next room. Absolutely horrifying, right?"

Ally giggled, her palm flattening against his stomach, continuing to gently rub up and down. She liked how his stomach muscles clenched beneath the movement her palm. " _Hor_ rifying."

"And then, after I hauled my perfect ass out of bed and gave her the cuddles she deserves, she tried to ditch me! For _another_ _man_ ," he said dramatically.

Again, Ally giggled, and she swatted his chest lightly with the hand that had been rubbing it, before she moved her fingers back to his lower stomach. She curled her fingers against the thin hair there, biting her lip and enjoying the way goosebumps popped up under her delicate touch. "Ronnie Ramone does _not_ count as 'another man'," she protested lamely. "Although, I can't deny that your ass is perfect," she sighed wistfully.

A devilish smile spread over Austin's features and he leaned in close. "The world should be jealous of us, then."

"Why?"

"Because we have the _world's_ most perfect asses," he said, before one of his hands moved from her waist and gave her butt a little squeeze. "E _spec_ ially you."

She yelped in surprise before she glared at him. He grinned back, completely unapologetic.

"What? It's true."

Ally rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him childishly. Austin shook his head with a small smile, before he tilted his head towards her and kissed her. As usual, Ally melted into his kiss, her hand sliding up his chest and over his shoulder, gently rubbing up and down his upper arm. His hands slipped under the hem of her shirt and sat low on her waist, and just the warmth of his hand on her skin was enough to send tingles all over her body and make her smile into the kiss. She liked the way his muscles moved beneath her hands when he held her tighter. His thumb rubbed back and forth against the small of her back, and she giggled slightly because she was ticklish, but instead of flinching away as she normally would when she was tickled, she only pressed herself closer to him.

"Mm," she sighed happily when they eventually broke apart. "So," she said, nuzzling her nose affectionately against his neck, "d'you wanna hear about that surprise now or later?"

Austin chuckled and pressed a kiss to her cheek and then began to kiss along her jawbone, apparently not finished with his kisses. He always seemed to be most affectionate when he was sleepy. "You decide," he mumbled against her skin. "Is this a fun surprise or a scary surprise?"

Ally giggled, partially from his words and partly because his hair was tickling her ear. "A fun surprise."

"Ooh, a fun surprise," he hummed, his lips connecting with the spot between her jawline and her neck. "Does this fun surprise have anything to do with me, or is it a fun surprise for you?"

"It's a fun surprise for _you_ ," she said, her fingertips circling around his bellybutton. She felt him inhale sharply at her actions, before he let out the breath just as quickly, and continued to pepper the side of her neck with kisses with a bit more vigour than before.

"What kind of surprise?" He asked, although his voice sounded breathy.

She suppressed a smile and circled her fingers around his bellybutton again, and this time she was unable to suppress the smile when he gave her the same reaction as before. "It involves a very specific career… _opportunity_."

"A career opportunity?" He asked, finally drawing his lips away from her neck to raise an eyebrow at her.

Ally nodded and bit her lip. "Yeah," she said quietly, meeting his gaze with a small smile. "Ronnie says that Starr Records want to meet with you."

"I – he – seriously?" Austin exclaimed, his eyebrows shooting up with surprise. A shocked little smile spread over his features, and Ally nodded again, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth in a failed attempt to suppress her own grin.

"Mhm. And – and I got Trish to call Starr Records and she arranged for Jimmy Starr to come see you on Friday. She's – she's really good at, um, well talking to people, and I was going to do it myself but I got kind of _nervous_ , y'know? But it was okay, because Trish has organised it and she said she doesn't mind doing it again in the future so I guess that kind of makes her your _manager_ or whatever and, uh…" She trailed off, not really sure what else to say, but she had a tendency to ramble.

"You're – wow," Austin laughed, putting one hand to his forehead and laughing before he looked back at her and pulled her close to him. "You're just the _best_ girlfriend ever, you know?"

"I don't know about the _best_ girlfriend _ever_ ," she said modestly. "Maybe the best girlfriend _you've_ ever had, but the best girlfriend _ever_?You flatter me, Moon."

"You're just… the best," he finally decided.

Ally giggled. "No, _you're_ the best," she joked.

A wicked smirk formed across his lips as he gently pushed her onto her back, twisting his body awkwardly so that the bottom half of his body remained where it was, but his torso covered hers, and he dipped his head to trail a line of kisses across her collarbone. Ally let out a breathy noise of contentment as his lips skimmed over her skin, and somehow her hands found their way into his hair, messing it up even more than it already was. Another breathy noise fell from her lips as one of his large hands suddenly found her hipbone and gripped it, his thumb tracing the groove there. His lips travelled up the column of her throat before he pressed three chaste kisses along the side of her neck. Then, he scraped his teeth gently against the junction where her neck connected with her shoulder and it was when he began to suck the skin gently that Ally just about lost it. "I'm definitely the best at _this_ ," he whispered cockily against her skin, clearly pleased with her reaction.

As he continued to thoroughly ravish her skin, Ally found that she couldn't disagree.

* * *

"Austin Moon, how would you like a deal with Starr Records?"

Needless to say, Ally was ecstatic. Jimmy Starr had watched Austin's regular gig at the coffee shop that evening, and after an interview together while the patrons of the café slowly began to trickle out, and Cassidy began to close up shop, Ally found her hand being gripped tightly underneath the table as Austin attempted to conceal his excitement over Jimmy's offer. The blond nodded coolly, although it was plain to see that he was euphoric, with his eyes alight and his grin so broad that Ally was almost worried his jaw would fall off. She hoped his jaw didn't fall off – that would mean that he wouldn't be able to kiss her anymore, and she quite liked being kissed by him.

"Excellent. We'll be in contact with your manager and begin making arrangements for a debut album," Jimmy said, before he continued to discuss with Austin what his new career would entail. Ally sat quietly and listened, because she was only there as _the girlfriend_ , not as _the girl who helped get him this job_.

After Jimmy left, Austin and Ally left soon after, and as they walked back to their apartment hand-in-hand, an impossibly broad smile spread over the blonde's face as he pulled Ally into his side with his arm draped around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly as they walked.

"I'm being signed onto a _record label_ ," he murmured to her, his eyes shining.

Ally grinned and likewise wrapped an arm around his waist as she attempted to keep pace with him. "We always knew it would happen someday," she pointed out.

"Thank you."

She blinked. She hadn't been expecting any sort of thanks or praise, but she appreciated it and turned her head slightly to smile up at him. "You're welcome." She said.

His smile only seemed to grow, and with his hair glowing in the moonlight and shadows dimpling across his cheekbones and collarbones, Ally couldn't help but wonder how she managed to land someone like Austin. He seemed to sense her staring at him, because he suddenly looked down at her and raised an eyebrow questioningly, and she looked away in embarrassment. She heard him chuckle slightly, and rubbed his hand soothingly up and down her arm.

"It's okay to stare at me. There's plenty to admire," he pointed out.

She smiled. It wasn't as if she could argue with that.

* * *

When Ally emerged from her shower later that evening and entered her bedroom, she hadn't expected to see a shirt folded neatly at the foot of her bed with a note on top of it. Her eyebrow inched its way up her forehead suspiciously as she clutched the towel to her chest with one hand, and reached for the note with the other, half expecting Austin to jump out from some kind of hiding spot and scare her.

 _Put these on and then come cuddle me. I also got you a gift. I hope it fits. I had to guess your size. – xoxox the best boyfriend in the world_

Ally rolled her eyes and smiled to herself, and picked up the shirt he had laid out for her. It was one of his old, well-worn t-shirts with a faded Queen logo across the front, and underneath it was a cute pair of cotton underwear that she had never seen in her life. It had cartoon strawberries spread across the fabric, and each cartoon strawberry was beside a speech bubble that said " _I'm berry sexy_." With another roll of her eyes and an amused huff, she pulled them both on and then shuffled about the apartment to hang up her towel before she made her way to Austin's bedroom, the hem of the shirt brushing against her mid-thigh with each step she took.

"Knock knock. I hope you're decent," she said, opening the door and peeking her head through with a hand covering her eyes.

She felt Austin's hand gripping her slim wrist and pulling it away from her eyes, and was then greeted by his smiling eyes and amused smirk. Fortunately – or _un_ fortunately – he _was_ decent, with a pair of sweatpants sitting lowly on his hips and an old pyjama shirt clinging snugly to his chest.

"Would it really matter even if I _wasn't_ decent?" He joked, pulling her into his room and then shutting the door behind her. Before she could answer, she was pressed against the door, with his strong arms on either side of her braced against the door, and his lips against hers.

"I suppose not," she managed in as coy a tone as she could possibly muster, resting her hands on his shoulders as she grinned up at him after his dazzling kiss.

Austin smirked again and then fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Are you wearing the thing I got you?"

"Yeah," she said, with a slight blush. She felt ridiculous that she felt so embarrassed, because it was just a pair of cotton underwear – it wasn't even _sexy_ or anything, it was simply silly and childish, but still, she felt embarrassed.

"Can I see?" He asked, looking shy for once, and his shyness gave her a slight confidence boost.

"Yeah," she replied, biting her lip nervously before she lifted the hem of the shirt just enough so that he could see the pun-themed garment.

Austin's face lit up and he grinned, clearly pleased that he had guessed her size correctly. "They look nice," he said happily, his gaze slowly sliding down the length of her body, before he bit his lip and looked back at her eyes with a sheepish grin. "Sorry. Got a little… _lascivious_ there. D'you like them? The underwear, I mean."

"They're very _punny_ ," she said standing on her tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "So, yes. I like them a lot. Very cute. And good job on guessing my size."

He threw her a very smug look and switched off his light before he grabbed her by the wrist again and pulled her to his bed. She followed him warily, afraid of tripping over miscellaneous items on his bedroom floor, guided only by the faint moonlight filtering in through his window. Finally, they made it to his bed without any form of injury, and before she knew it, she was cuddled under the quilt with her back against his chest and his face nestled against her neck, his arms around her waist with his hands clasped together. She hummed quietly as she rubbed her hand back and forth against his forearms for a little while, before her hands slid past his wrists and rested on top of his considerably larger hands, and shuffled backwards slightly to snuggle even closer with him.

"Good night, Ally," Austin whispered, nuzzling his nose briefly against her hair before he returned it to the junction between the back of her shoulder and her neck.

After a few moments of lying there in silence, Ally thought Austin had fallen asleep, and closed her eyes in content. She liked these moments, where it was just the two of them and she didn't have to think about anything else. It wasn't often that they made a conscious decision to go to sleep together, but Austin had earlier insisted that it was _his_ night and he deserved celebration cuddles with his girlfriend. Ally hadn't been able to find it in her to refuse.

Half an hour later, Ally found that she was still awake. She couldn't sleep, which was unusual, because although she had only fallen asleep with Austin a handful of times, she had always slept blissfully when she had done so.

"Aus, are you awake?" She eventually whispered, when the boredom became too much to handle. She squinted at the digital clock on his bedside table.

 _12.04_

"Austin?" She whispered again, tapping her hands restlessly against his. "Are you awake? Austin?"

When he didn't reply, she sighed and closed her eyes again, wriggling about in an attempt to get comfortable again. She let out another loud sigh, and then felt Austin move slightly behind her.

"Mm?" He murmured sleepily, lazily pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck.

"I can't sleep," Ally replied shyly, suddenly feeling silly for having woken him up.

She felt him smile against her skin, and he began to leave a trail of warm kisses along the line of her spine. ( _Right_. She had forgotten how affectionate he got when he was sleepy.) "What time is it?"

"Just past midnight."

Austin chuckled slightly, and he pressed one final kiss to the indent between her shoulder blades before he nuzzled his face back to where it was. "Roll over," he said, moving one hand to grip her hip and tug at it.

Ally obliged and wriggled about so that she was facing him. His eyes looked almost black in the darkness of the room, but his hair was illuminated, an awkwardly bright patch of light in his otherwise dark room. She gave him a shy smile, and his lips curved into a small smile as well before he gave her a slow yet chaste kiss.

"Why can't you sleep?" He asked, his voice low.

"Dunno," Ally said biting her lip. Her eyes flickered between his two eyes, before she shrugged and twisted slightly in his arms, so that she was lying on her back with his arm trapped beneath her, but her hips and legs remained where they were, intertwined with his. She pushed the quilt over to his side, because it was too warm, ignoring his slight whimper at the loss of her warm body snuggled up against his.

"Anything I can do to help?" He asked, settling more comfortably on his side. He pushed the quilt away from them with one hand before he used that same hand to rub up and down her stomach gently

"Dunno," she said again, before she turned her head to look at him. "Sorry for waking you," she added guiltily.

Austin chuckled. "I don't mind."

They lay in a companionable silence for a little while, before Austin's hand stopped moving on her stomach. She almost thought he had fallen asleep again, but then she felt his fingers wriggle and slide down to her hip, and she turned her head lazily to look at him again. His eyes were openly scanning up and down the length of her body, lingering unapologetically on her legs before slowly making their way back to her face. He offered her an impish smile and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did I mention that you look _really_ good in my shirt?" He asked casually.

"Did _I_ mention that _you're_ a pervert?" She countered, with an amused lilt to her voice.

"What? How?" Austin asked, his eyes wide.

Ally giggled. "You didn't even lay out any pants for me to wear. Just a shirt and some underwear. Really, Austin?"

"Wha—hey! I could have been worse," he protested. "Besides, I didn't put any pants out, because I know you don't like sleeping with pants _anyway_ , so _hah_."

"How could you have _possibly_ been worse?"

Austin smirked and his fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt, tracing the band of her underwear. "I could have been _very_ inappropriate with my gift," he pointed out, before he leaned his head in closer to whisper in her ear as his thumb slipped _just_ under the elastic to trace her hipbone. "Or I could have laid out _just_ the shirt."

Ally let out an annoyed huff and slapped his hand away. "Like I said," she grumbled, " _pervert_."

"This is the thanks I get for buying my pun-loving girlfriend a pair of pun-themed underpants," he complained. "I thought you'd get all excited and say I'm _pun_ derful. Besides," he added with a pout, "I agree with the little cartoon strawberries. You're _berry_ sexy."

"That was a _berry_ bad pun," she argued stoically.

"You're being _berry_ unreasonable."

"You're being _berry_ repetitive."

"You're being _berry_ rude." He pouted, his nose scrunching up cutely and his eyebrows furrowing.

"You're being _berry_ uncreative."

Austin sighed in exasperation, and drummed his fingers against her thigh. "Come closer. I feel all lonely," he said eventually.

"You're so needy," Ally said, raising an eyebrow at him without moving from her position. She wouldn't admit it, but lying in the weird twisted position with her back flat against the bed but her hips on their side and her legs tangled with his – although relieving at first – was beginning to hurt her lower back.

"No, you're just not needy enough," he grumbled, before his hand slid from her thigh, to her hip, and forcibly tugged her towards him. "Plus, _you're_ the one who woke me up just because you couldn't sleep."

With another exaggerated sigh, Ally cuddled in closer to him until her nose was brushing his and her whole body was enveloped in his arms. She blushed slightly and rolled her eyes. "Shut up! I already feel bad about waking you up," she said guiltily.

Austin smirked, and gave her a look that made her feel like he knew something that she didn't. "Hey, Ally. Ally, Ally, pst, hey, Ally," he whispered, widening his eyes and looking alarmingly akin to a small child about to tell a major secret.

"What?" She whispered back in a similar fashion, trying her best to look annoyed, but she knew that she just looked amused.

His lips curved into a cheeky smile. "What time is it?"

"Uh…" Ally gave him a weird look, and then twisted slightly in his arms to look at the alarm clock behind her. "12.54am," she said, settling comfortably against him before giving him another confused glance. "Why?"

"Because I want you to remember this moment," he said.

"What moment?"

"This one," he responded, quirking an eyebrow.

"What's so special about this moment?" She protested.

"There's nothing special about this moment. It's the moment that's coming that's special. Brace yourself. Are you bracing yourself?"

Ally rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to take that as a 'yes, Austin. You're so handsome, Austin.'" He said, imitating her in a high-pitched voice.

"That's _so_ not what that meant," she deadpanned.

"I'm going to take _that_ as a 'oh, golly gosh, gee whiz! My boyfriend buys me adorable pun-themed underpants! Oh my, he's so _sweet_ and _charmin'_ , and I just wanna kiss him all over for being such a _pun_ derful boyfriend!'" He continued to squeak in a high-pitched voice, now adopting a Southern Belle accent to accompany his ridiculous imitation of her.

"I don't talk like that!" She pouted.

"No, you don't," he agreed, with an amused lilt to his voice. "C'mon, give me a kiss. You know you wanna. It'll make this moment special.

"Nuh-uh," she argued back childishly. "You kiss me all the time, so that doesn't make this moment special. It just makes this moment nice."

He didn't say anything, and simply cupped her cheek fondly. He traced his thumb over her lip gently before he gave her a look filled with so much affection that she was genuinely afraid he might spontaneously combust. Ally cleared her throat and gave him a shy smile, half-expecting him to kiss her, but he simply continued to look at her, his eyes shining and teeth glowing in the moonlight as he gave her an open-mouthed grin.

"Well? Are you gonna kiss me or not?" She asked eventually, biting her lip when he still made no move to come closer.

"I love you."

Ally froze, her eyebrows shooting up in alarm as she scanned his face, trying to discern whether or not he was being serious. "Like – like, as in, you love me the way you always say you love me, or as in you're _in_ love with –"

"I'm _in_ love with you," he said, and although his tone was serious, his face was still set in an easy, charming grin.

There was an awkward silence where neither of them said anything. She felt incredibly embarrassed, because whilst she knew that she felt something very special for Austin, she wasn't sure that she felt confident enough in herself to say that she loved him back. His easy smile slowly began to droop turn into a nervous lip bite as the awkward silence stretched on, until Ally cleared her throat and gave him a small smile. "Good."

"Good?" He asked, his eyes lighting up as he raised an eyebrow with an amused smile.

"Good," she confirmed, kissing the tip of his nose.

His nose scrunched up and his smile only grew, before he rolled his eyes and gave her a proper kiss. "I told you this moment was gonna be special," he said. "And now you'll always know that it was exactly –" he paused, and lifted his head to look over her shoulder and squint at the clock, " – 1.07am the very first time I told you that I love you."

"You're such a dork," Ally muttered, but she bit her lip and rubbed her hand soothingly against his arm. "But you're a very sweet dork. And I – I mean – I _think_ that maybe I lo—"

Austin cut her off with a finger to her lips, and gave her another easy smile. "Don't say it until you're ready."

She smiled gratefully at him, before her eyes flickered away from his self-consciously. She cleared her throat, and attempted a flirty smile. "Well, Austin, you have to earn my love," she decided.

"Oh? I have to _earn_ it, do I?" He asked back, equally flirty. His smirk turned dangerously coquettish, as he gently pushed her onto her back and hovered over her, gently pressing his lips to hers, before he kissed her cheek and slowly began to make his way down her neck.

Ally rolled her eyes, but smiled despite herself, and allowed her hands to assume their regular positions, entangled in his hair and clutching the fabric of his shirt. "Yeah. You have to earn it."

"Then maybe we should start with me taking you out on a real, proper date," he said, pulling his lips away from her neck momentarily to cock an eyebrow at her.

"You don't have to do that," she protested. "I was just teasing!"

Austin rolled his eyes and kissed her gently. "But I want to," he said sincerely. "You've been my girlfriend for a little over a week, now. It's only fair that I take my _amazing_ girlfriend out on a real, official date. So," he smirked, tilting her head towards her so that his lips would _just_ brush hers with each word he spoke. "Ally Dawson. Will you go on a date with me?"

"You have to _earn_ it," Ally managed to squeak out, her eyes widening as he gently nibbled on her bottom lip.

"How do I _earn_ it?" He teased, his voice low as he began to press kisses along her jawline. He wasn't kissing the parts that he _knew_ turned her into jelly, and Ally was genuinely afraid of why he wasn't. It meant that he had something bigger planned – as if he were going to kiss those specific spots at _just_ the right time to make her compliant and agree to anything.

"You – um – uh –"

"Ally?"

She bit her lip before composing herself. "Well, maybe, we'll go hang out. Not a date – just hanging out. Wherever that big romantic heart of yours wants to go, we'll go. And maybe – just _maybe_ ," she added sternly, "—we'll end up making out. And may— _oh_ ," she sighed, tilting her head back.

Austin smirked against her skin, his lips at the exact spot that always turned her to jelly. "Just _maybe_?" He asked huskily, pressing open mouthed kisses languidly up and down the side of her neck.

"Okay, _definitely_ ," Ally amended, her ears turning pink.

"Victory!" He squealed suddenly, rolling off of her with a triumphant grin. He gave a little wriggle, his arms flailing about in the air, as though he were doing a victory dance on the bed. Ally rolled her eyes with a small smile and shuffled in so that she could lay her head on his chest. "Ah. Is this my trophy for winning?" He teased, peering down at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes," Ally mumbled childishly.

"I'm not sure I want this one. It's not even gold," he joked, before he wrapped his arm around her and traced up and down her arm. "Although, it _does_ smell good," he added, turning his head to take in a deep breath against her hair, before pulling back with a goofy grin. "I guess I can accept it."

"Good. You're not getting any other trophies," she grumbled good-naturedly. "Now where was I? Oh yeah. So, maybe, we hang out wherever you wanna go, then maybe, at the end of the night, we end up making out –"

" _Definitely_ making out," he pouted.

Ally rolled her eyes. " _Definitely_ making out. And then, maybe, we'll see if you've earned my love."

Austin grinned. "Challenge accepted," he decided, kissing her forehead.

They were quiet for a little while, and Ally attempted to try sleeping once more. She felt soothed by the steady rise and fall of Austin's chest, and even more soothed by the sound of his heart beating beneath her ear. She liked to fantasise that each steady thump was for her. Just when Ally thought that Austin had fallen asleep, and that she was doomed to stay awake forever, he stirred slightly, and she felt herself being pulled impossibly closer.

"Love you," he mumbled sleepily, rolling onto his side again and nuzzling his face into her neck.

Ally smiled. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

Saturday.

 _Date night_.

Surprisingly, Austin had spent the majority of the day ignoring her. After they had gotten out of bed that morning, he had casually asked her where she wanted to go for their date whilst drowning his cereal in milk. She had no ideas, but apparently he had a whole list, because after breakfast, he had grabbed the phone and locked himself in his room to start making arrangements. She hoped he wasn't doing anything _too_ extravagant, because she highly doubted that it would take _that_ long to make a reservation at a nice restaurant, or wherever it was that he was taking her, and somehow, she had pegged Austin as the romantic kind of person to go to great lengths to impress somebody. It wasn't until after lunchtime that Austin acknowledged her presence again, when he had sat beside her on the couch and told her to dress casually and be ready by seven.

At precisely seven, Ally heard a knock on the front door, just as she was touching up the final parts of her make up.

"Austin, can you get that?" She called. When he didn't reply, she stepped out of her bedroom, fiddling with the clasp of her bracelet around her wrist. "Austin?" She called again, louder, kneeling beside the front door and looking through the specific shoes that she wanted. " _Can you get that_?"

"No!" He called back cheekily, although he sounded too close. It sounded like he was on the other side of the front door…

"Uh… Okay…" Ally mumbled, before she stood, relinquishing the search for her shoes momentarily and looked through the peephole suspiciously.

Lo and behold, Austin stood outside their apartment door, holding a bouquet of lilies and chrysanthemums and looking devilishly handsome as usual. She stifled a giggle and opened the door before she folded her arms across her chest, leaned with her shoulder against the doorframe, and crossed one leg over the other with a bemused raise of her eyebrow.

"Hello," he said, adopting the persona of a nervous person. "I – I got you these flowers Ally – they're your _favourites_ – I –" he broke off with a bashful shrug of his shoulders, turning his head away and holding the flowers out to her.

Ally stared at him for two moments, before she keeled over in laughter. Several ungraceful snorts erupted from her, and she could hear Austin chuckling slightly. "Very cute," she managed to wheeze out eventually, leaning heavily against the doorframe with one hand clutched to her stomach and the other dabbing delicately at her eye to stop the tears from ruining her make up.

Austin simply grinned at her smugly, clearly pleased that he had been able to reduce her to this laughing mess, before he smirked, all traces of fake-nervousness that he displayed earlier entirely gone. "So, you ready?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One sec," she said, holding up a finger to motion he wait, before she took the flowers from him and stood on her tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I gotta find a vase for these. Can you pick out a pair of shoes for me?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's only our first date and you already have me doing errands," he complained half-heartedly, but he handed her the flowers nonetheless and looked at her outfit critically before kneeling in front of the shoe rack and looking through her various pairs of shoes.

When Ally returned, the flowers now sitting in a glass vase on their small dining table, and her handbag now slung around her shoulder, she was greeted with Austin enthusiastically holding up a pair of high-heeled black ankle boots.

"It has _shoelaces_!" He exclaimed in excitement, before he dropped to his knees and grabbed her foot suddenly. Ally keeled over in surprise, waving her arms in a circle to gain her balance before her hands came to rest on his shoulders for support. She shook her head with a smile as he tenderly slipped each socked foot into the boot, tucked her jeans into it around the ankle, and then laced up each shoe for her.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a one-armed hugged when he stood back up, before she grabbed her keys off the hook, turned off the light in their apartment, and forcefully shoved him out the door.

"You're slightly taller now and this scares me," he mumbled, now eyeing the boots sadly. "This is devastating. They make your legs look even more amazing than usual, and yet they make you taller. I'm feeling very conflicted right now!"

"You're still taller than me," she pointed out easily, slipping her hand into his and lacing her fingers through. "So, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Austin said mysteriously as they stepped into the elevator, before he reached up with his free hand and flicked the collar of her button-down shirt. "I like your shirt. Button-downs look nice on you. And we're kind of matching!"

"My shirt is white. Yours is dark blue. That's not matching."

"But we're both wearing jeans! And they're both button-down shirts."

Ally giggled. "I guess you're right. Where are we going?" She added again, not satisfied with his earlier answer.

"It's a surprise!" He whined, and as soon as they were out of the apartment block, he held up a hand to motion she wait for a moment, before he produced a silky scarf from his back pocket. "Close your eyes," he said.

"Kinky," she commented, raising an eyebrow at the scarf.

"Shut up!" He complained, before he tied the scarf gently around her eyes. "Can you see anything?"

"I can see the scarf."

"That doesn't count!"

"You asked me if I could see anything," she countered, pouting slightly. "I can see the scarf. It's red. And very silky. But keeping my eyes open is kind of giving me a headache, 'cause the fabric is too close to my eyes."

"Then let's get going," he decided, placing a hand on the small of her back to gently guide her.

"Wait, this is ridiculous. You really want me to walk somewhere _blindfolded_?" She asked, dumfounded.

"Yeah! It's a surprise. Just shut up and do it, okay?"

"Fine, fine," she laughed, before she reached for his free hand to lace her fingers through it again and allowed him to guide her, his other hand still resting in the small of her back to guide her.

Once they reached wherever it was he had planned for them to go, he pulled away for a moment and she heard him fiddling with his keys before the door swung open, and a little bell tinkled. When they got inside, she felt him standing very close behind her, his fingers against the knot of the makeshift blindfold.

"Are you ready for your surprise?" He whispered in her ear, his chest pressed against her back.

Ally gulped quietly and nodded, biting her lip. She felt the blindfold slacken before it fell away from her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to adjust to the light. As soon as she could see again, her jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hands to stop herself from squealing. She felt Austin's arms snake around her waist, and his chin rested on her shoulder.

"Do you like it?" He asked, sounding almost nervous.

"Yeah," she managed to breathe, her eyes still wide as she took in the sight before her. She eventually managed to tear her gaze away, and she turned around in his arms, her arms looping around his neck. Austin smiled at her and met her halfway, his lips pressing quickly and chastely against hers before he released her and led her to the table.

It was clear to see that he had put a lot of thought in planning this. He had taken her to their regular hangout at the coffee shop, and since it was after closing hours, he was able to alter their set up slightly. A nice, white tablecloth covered the table at their _favourite booth_ , and a chilled bottle of root beer sat fancily in a wine cooler beside the table. It wasn't sickeningly cliché – she was glad he hadn't scattered rose petals or set up candles – and was very simple, but it was the sentiment behind the set up that made her insides feel gooey.

"Well, shall we order, m'lady?"

Ally blushed and nodded, settling in comfortably to the squishy booth. Austin had sat opposite to her, on the regular hard chairs, and it made her heart warm even more to know that he had sacrificed his favourite spot on _his_ booth to let her have it. She picked up the menu and snorted immediately, because it was a large and fancy menu but there was only one option written inside.

"I guess I'm having the ravioli," she said with another little giggle.

"What a coincidence! So am I!" Austin exclaimed, grinning at her.

"My _favourite_ ," she sighed happily.

"I know," he said with a smirk.

Before she could reply, Cassidy entered the coffee shop, carrying something in a plastic bag. She waved at them, and then went behind the counter. Ally could smell the ravioli from where she sat, and her stomach grumbled loudly. She flushed in embarrassment, but Austin only smiled and shook his head, as though he found her endearing. Moments later, Cassidy approached them with two bowls of ravioli and an apron tied around her waist.

"Hi, I'm Cassidy, and I'll be your server for tonight," she said, winking at Ally before she set down their meals and poured them each a glass of root beer. After that, Cassidy only approached them again to take their plates and clear their table, and again later to present them with the chocolate brownies that hadn't been sold in the café earlier that day, and then she left them alone. Ally felt bad that her friend had to do all that work, but she knew that Cassidy didn't mind and that Austin had probably paid her – and if she hadn't accepted his money, she had no doubt that he would give her a generous tip the next time she was working.

Ally wasn't entirely sure when, but at some point, Austin had abandoned his chair and joined her on her side of the squishy booth, his arm easily draping over her shoulders and his fingers laced with hers.

"Did you have fun tonight?" He asked her, resting his cheek on the top of head.

"I always have fun when I'm with you," she replied closing her eyes in content and snuggling further into him.

He didn't reply, and Ally was almost worried that she had creeped him out, but then she felt him turn his head and press a gentle kiss to the top of her head, before he relaxed again and assumed his previous position with his cheek pressed against her head.

"Should we head home now?" He asked her quietly.

"Yeah," she mumbled. They sat there for a little while longer, before Ally stood up and stretched, stepping away from the table and waiting for him to stand too.

Austin smirked and waggled his eyebrows, folding his arms across his chest.

"What?" She asked, looking confused.

"Forgetting something?"

Her eyebrows furrowed together with confusion, before she saw her purse beside Austin and immediately felt embarrassed. He looked incredibly smug and continued to stare at her with that stupid handsome smirk of his, clearly waiting for her to make the next move.

With a sultry grin, Ally cocked her hip to the side and crossed her arms. "Well?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to her purse. "Can I have my _wallet_?" She teased.

"Oh! Oh, right, yes, of course," Austin spluttered in his best imitation of their first encounter, before he rolled his eyes and picked up her purse for her. "Oh yeah, and don't smile at me like that," he added, lacing her fingers through his before he started to pull her towards the door. He gave her a crooked smile as he locked the café before grabbing her hand again. "It's way too seductive."

" _Seductive_?"

" _Seductive_ ," Austin repeated, bumping her hip lightly with his. "Don't you remember the cartoon strawberries, Ally? You're _berry sexy_."

"Oh, shut up," she laughed, nudging him back.

He grinned at her and swung their hands back and forth exaggeratedly. "You know you love me," he teased.

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered. She knew that she loved him, really, she did, and she didn't know why she was so afraid to tell him. He made her feel safe and secure, and but more than that, he made her feel confident and sure of herself – so why was she holding back? With a cheeky grin, she thought of how he had told her his feelings, and then looked at him. "Hey, what time is it?"

Austin raised an eyebrow, and checked his watch. "Just past nine. Why?"

"Because I want you to remember this moment," she said, stepping in front of him and facing him. She bit her lip and gave him a shy smile, grabbing both of his hands.

Immediately, Austin's face lit up and his eyes searched hers. "Really?" He asked her.

"Yeah," she whispered, meeting his gaze evenly.

"I love you so much," he said, leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss. It was clumsy and desperate, as he bowed her body into his and clutched her tightly. It didn't seem to matter to him that she hadn't said the words _I love you_ , because she had said it in her own way.

When he eventually broke the kiss, Ally had a moment of embarrassment upon the realisation that she had just shared an excruciatingly long kiss with her boyfriend in public, but when he smiled at her like that, she found that she didn't care as much. They rested their foreheads against one another and stood there for a moment, before she gave him another quick peck and then pulled away, grabbing his hand again and swinging it as they continued the walk back to their apartment.

"So, I'm assuming I've earned it, huh?" He asked casually, one hand in his pocket and the other tangled with hers.

"What?"

"Your love. Have I earned your love?"

Ally grinned and held up her free hand. "Let's see. We hung out as friends," she said, putting down one finger as though making a checklist, "but it turned into a date. Check. We ended up making out. Check."

"Wait; _that_ was the make out session?" He pouted. "No fair. I was expecting something much more intense."

"Perv," she muttered, nudging him with her hip.

"You love it."

"I hate that I love it," she agreed, before she rolled her eyes. "Quit interrupting. You're so annoying."

"Quit interrupting, you're so annoying," he mocked.

"Austin!"

"Ally!"

She laughed and shook her head. "In any case, we checked all the boxes. So, yes. You earned it."

Austin smiled. "Good," he said quietly, before he draped his arm over her shoulder.

They continued to walk home in an amiable silence, and it wasn't until they reached their front door that either of them broke the silence.

"This was fun. We should go on more dates," Austin said as they stepped inside.

"Technically, we go on dates all the time," Ally pointed out, hanging her purse on the hook and taking off her shoes. "We just don't label them as dates because it's weirder to say 'hey, wanna go on a date later?' as opposed to 'hey, wanna hang out later?'"

"That's… yeah, I guess you're right," he laughed, shaking his head. "Then allow me to rephrase. I had a very nice time with you tonight, Ally."

Ally shrugged bashfully and followed him through the dark apartment. "I know," she joked. "But, really, Austin. The whole date was very sweet. Thank you for tonight."

"You know how we can make tonight even better?" He said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"With good night cuddles?" Ally responded innocently.

Austin chuckled and nodded, pulling her to him for a moment to kiss her on the head. "Exactly. I'll meet you in your bedroom, 'kay?"

As promised, moments after Ally had settled into her bed, she felt the mattress dip beneath Austin's weight, and then felt his arms slip around her waist. She was pulled into his chest, and she felt him press a small kiss to the side of her neck.

"Hi," he mumbled.

"Hi," she responded, her tone equally hushed.

She felt him smile against her skin, before he began to press gentle kisses up and down the side of her neck. Austin stopped after a moment and then nuzzled his face against her neck. His breathing steadied and she could only assume that he had fallen asleep, but there was still one thing that was niggling at the back of her mind, something that stopped her from falling asleep. She still hadn't said those three special words, and even though she had made it explicit, she still thought he deserved to hear them.

"Hey, Austin?" Ally asked quietly.

"Two nights in a row, Ally," he responded immediately, feigning grumpiness, but she could feel him smiling against her neck. " _Two_ nights in a row you've woken me up."

"As if you were asleep. You replied _immediately_ ," she pointed out, turning in his arms to face him.

Austin chuckled and rested a hand on her hip, slipping his thumb under the hem of her shirt and gently stroking her hipbone. "Okay, okay, you caught me. What's up?"

"I love you," she declared, happily nestling herself in his arms and burying her face in his chest.

"I know," he laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

He was trying to act nonchalant, but Ally could hear his heart beating rapidly under her ear. She smiled and snuggled closer to him, feeling as safe as she could possibly be. In that moment, she realised that it didn't matter what they encountered – crazy ex-lovers, distance, sadness, happiness – none of it would change them. They would develop and grow together, but every night from this point on, they would find their ways back to this spot, where they could whisper declarations of love in the wee hours of the morning, despite whatever else had happened that day.

As they fell asleep with smiles on their faces and music in their hearts, Ally found herself thinking that she had never been more grateful that she had accidentally left her wallet in a café.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh my goodness. It's finished. Thank you all** _ **so**_ **much for reading, for putting up with me, and for giving me feedback so that I know what to work on. I love ALL of you. I will be posting an epilogue, so stay tuned! :D**

 **As a general reply to all who review and tell me how much they like my story – thank you SO much. It's those reviews that keep up my motivation to write the next chapter, so thank you all very much. I'm feeling the love :***

 **Replies to my lovely children:**

 **Samlie:** LOWKEY STILL FANGIRLING THAT YOU LIKE MY FIC

 **Aznmissy04:** I LOVE YOU WITH A PASSION

 **Guest:** Oh, goodness, my heart actually hurts a little bit. I'm going to miss this story so much. I hope the epilogue is a nice way to get closure.

 **Dont-Stop-Believin:** Well, if that was your reaction to a _kiss_ then I have a feeling that you're DEAD after this chapter.

 **Lookin' For Treble:** OKAY SO I'M STILL IN THE "OH MY GOSH THIS AUTHOR LOVES MY STORY" PHASE WITH YOU OKAY SO OF COURSE I'M GOING TO REPLY ALL IN CAPS. I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS. I HOPE THIS CHAPTER MET YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

 **maddiegirl56:** ew did I give u permission to read my story

 **rauraR5fangirl:** SCREAMING! IS! FUN! I also can't believe that this is ending! Oh gosh. I'm really hoping the epilogue brings us ALL some closure.

 **BeShOrR5:** I hope this brought enough cuteness for you ;)

 **laurasbxbe:** WhaT?! You heard about this because of Twitter? DUDE. Your whole review had me blushing, seriously. Thank you so much, it means so much that you like my writing. My writing is like, a creative outlet, ya dig? It makes me really happy to know I was able to make so many people happy with this fic.

 **Nkled567:** Your FAVOURITE? WHAAAAAAAAAAAT, that's so sweet! :D

 **Frackinawesomeninja:** You love it more than Austin loves Ally? Omg that's a LOT

 **Lollypop:** Don't worry! I have lots more fics planned :D I'll be posting one soon after this one, so keep an eye out ;)

 **Guest:** HAHA, I don't know! I just describe what I envision in my head and put it to words.

 **HeartSoulForever:** I try to keep it real. Also, I physically cannot bring myself to continually make Ally a damsel in distress, because I'm too much of an angry feminist for that, so I like to subvert the clichés a bit ;)

 **Chubby bunny:** That review is actually so sweet, thank you _so_ much. I'm feeling this love. You're one of my favourite reviewers! :D

 **hello:** Ack, thank you for the good wishes!

 **Iliv3bymu5ic** : That's so cute omg thank you HAHA. It annoys me how much I love writing this story.

 **Guest:** I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG AHAHAHA

 **phia514:** Holy crap, the length of this chapter has actually slayed me. I don't think I would ever be able to match this length EVER. I think the epilogue will probably go back to my standard 5000 word chapters.

 **HollywoodHeightsLuver:** Hey! You're back! I was missing your presence in the reviews section. Oh gosh, those were some of my favourite parts too :D I really love when people quote back their favourite bits to me omg :D


	10. Epilogue

**A/N: I'm SO sorry for the wait, guys. I kind of put off writing this for a little while because I just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. I hope this epilogue meets your expectations, and I hope it gives you as much closure as it's given me. Thank you all** _ **so**_ **much for reading – really, your reviews are always so sweet and kind and it just makes me so incredibly happy to think that I've made so many of you happy.**

 **Special thanks to Maddie who is brilliant and shining and helped me through writer's block (and helped me dilute the sap by suggesting I include innuendos), and to Cassie who was always eager to headcanon with me. I love you guys :D**

 **Word Count: 10 382**

* * *

The stadium was filled with screaming and cheers and the smell of sweat and hormonal teenagers as Austin Moon finished his final encore of his concert. The sounds of the electric guitar tinkled out amongst the screaming, his hand clenched in a fist and poised in the air as he finished the last song. His eyes were closed as he savoured the loud cheering and whoops from his fans in the audience, never tiring of the sounds of enthusiastic screams after a concert. Although he was only recently graduated from college, Austin was swiftly becoming well known in the music community as Jimmy Starr's favourite recording artist. The young man finally caught his breath and dropped his hand, screaming a 'good night Miami' into the microphone, before he waved and jogged off of the stage.

As soon as he got off the stage, he felt two familiar arms wrap around him from behind and squeeze him tightly. Austin relaxed into the warm hug, his grin only widening before he turned around and gave a proper hug.

"You were _amazing_ tonight," said Dez, pulling away from the hug before bumping his fist against Austin's in their classic handshake. " _What up_?"

"Thanks, buddy," Austin grinned.

Trish looked amused at the exchange and shook her head with a small smile. "Good job, Austin," she said. He stepped forward to hug her, but she put her hand up and shook her head, looking grossed out. "No thanks. You're gross and sweaty. If I didn't hug you every other night of your tour, I'm not going to break my streak and hug you _now_."

"But – but it's the _last_ show!" He whined, pouting at his manager.

"No," Trish sang, rolling her eyes and poking him in the chest sternly.

Austin glared at her before he sighed and let the smile slip easily over his face again. "Where's Ally?"

"Behind you," Trish said, pointing.

"Trish! You ruined it," Ally complained, stamping her foot like a small child throwing a tantrum. She turned to Austin and smiled sheepishly. "I had to pee. Too much Mountain Dew."

"Gross," Austin said. "I didn't want to know that."

Yet, even though he was gross and sweaty, and she was flustered and had just peed, the couple found themselves in a warm embrace, where he kissed the top of her head for a moment and let his arm circle her shoulders casually as they turned back to their friends, before Trish rolled her eyes and grabbed his wrist, pushing him into his dressing room and yelling something about an after party.

It had been two good years for Austin and his friends. He had landed his record deal, graduated college successfully, and begun his slow rise to fame. Trish had started off as his manager, but after changing her degrees multiple times throughout college, she was now halfway through a business degree and preparing to open her own managing company. After Dez had finished filming his film in LA two years ago, with Carrie as his leading lady, his career had really taken off and the couple had often been compared to Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter – except without a Johnny Depp or awkward divorce. Ally had finally gotten over her stage fright, and had recorded a debut album, but ultimately decided she preferred writing to performing. She still worked with Ronnie Ramone, but also had her own secure place on Jimmy Starr's label as Austin's official – and _only_ – songwriter.

"Austin! Are you ready yet?" Trish called, annoyed, from the opposite side of his dressing room door.

"No. I'm going to take a shower," he said stubbornly, ignoring her annoyed protests as he stepped into the bathroom of his dressing room.

When he emerged from his dressing room later, clad in dark skinny jeans and a plain red tee, Trish rolled her eyes and thrust a white leather jacket into his arms.

"You're promoting this designer tonight," she said to him as they walked through the corridors towards his limo. "You don't need to say the designer name, otherwise people will think you're promoting it on purpose. I'll do the talking. You just wear it and look pretty. Ally has a matching purse. Please don't be that annoyingly gross couple that are matching."

"But you're the one who made us matching," Austin said, puzzled.

Trish rolled her eyes and continued to pull him along. "You're already late, but that's okay, because – "

"Because I'm _fashionably—"_

"Austin Monica Moon, if you _dare_ finish that cliché sentence, I'm going to kick your ass."

Austin gulped and held his hands up in surrender, before she impatiently shoved him into the limo and climbed in after him.

"It's okay that you're late because I've already sent Ally and Dez ahead without you, but we'll show up later. You just have to mingle for a bit, socialise and whatnot." Her expression softened slightly and she gave him a sympathetic glance. "We don't have to stay for long. You just have to make an appearance, stay for at least twenty minutes, and then you can go. I know it's your anniversary tonight, that's why I wanted you to hurry."

For a moment, Austin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before they shot up. " _Crap_ ," he muttered, running a hand over his face. "I forgot it was my friend-iversary with Dez! I didn't get him anything!"

Trish chuckled and pulled out a neatly wrapped package from her purse. "New camera. Ally wrapped it. He can afford it, but figured it would be silly to get it since he has access to better cameras – but we all know he wanted it. I used your credit card to get it. I also got myself this purse to hold it in for you. With your money."

Austin rolled his eyes but he smiled. "Thanks, Trish. I don't say it often, but you really are the best manager ever."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Shut up, you big tree, I'm not done talking yet," she said briskly, but he could tell from her embarrassed smile that she was really quite flattered. She continued to brief him on the things he had to do at the party and what Dez had planned for the two of them after the party, but Austin began to tune her out, just watching the lights of Miami pass by as he stared out the window.

Yes, he thought. It had been a good two years for he and his friends.

* * *

The sensation of a small body wriggling about in Austin's arms as the early morning sunshine filtered in through his bedroom window was something he had grown very accustomed to over the past two years. He liked to sleep in sometimes, but generally preferred to get up early in the morning, whereas Ally almost always slept in, but also preferred to get up early because – as she always said – she was 'wasting daylight'.

In any case , he certainly didn't mind spending a lazy Sunday morning in bed with Ally, and since they each had a day off, he knew she wouldn't get upset and grumpy that he hadn't woken her up earlier. Instead, she really seemed quite content as she continued to wriggle about until she was comfortable again, her back pressed against his chest, before she let out a noisy, happy sigh. Austin smiled and pressed a small kiss to the back of her neck, right below where her hairline began, and then nuzzled her hair. He knew she was awake, but also knew she preferred silence until she was fully awake.

Well, it was his duty to make sure she was fully awake, wasn't it?

Austin began to press noisy, smacking kisses against the side of her neck. His fingers pressed into her stomach, but instead of skating his fingers below the hem of her – well, _his_ – shirt and dancing his fingertips along her smooth skin until she gave up and rolled over to kiss him passionately, he did almost the opposite. He wriggled his fingers against her stomach for a moment, and she let out a small, pathetic grunt of warning, as though she were completely aware what he had planned. With a small smirk, Austin began the tickle assault, and Ally _squealed_ , before attempting to roll away. However, he was much stronger than she was, and easily kept her pinned to him as he continued to tickle her with a careless grin plastered to his face as she squirmed and writhed against him.

"Austin!" She laughed, attempting to pull away. He couldn't see her face, since her back was pressed against his chest, but he could feel her stomach muscles clenching against his hand as he held her securely, the opposite hand freely tickling up and down her sides.

"Does this mean you're awake?" He asked cheekily, his lips pressed to her ear.

Ally squealed once more before nodding. "Yes, you dufus, it means I'm awake," she surrendered.

"Perfect," Austin smirked, finally stopping the tickle attack, before he smoothly and swiftly moved so that he was hovering over her and she was on her back, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' in surprise. "Because that means I can do _this_ ," he said, before lowering his head and kissing her soundly on the lips.

For a moment, Ally melted into the kiss (as usual) and her hands found his shoulders and gripped his shirt there, before she made a surprised noise and pushed him away.

" _Ew_ , Austin, I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!"

"Neither have I," he pointed out, feeling quite disgruntled. All he knew was that he was significantly colder and his lips were no longer fused to his girlfriend's, and he was _very_ unhappy about that.

" _Ew_ ," she muttered. " _Every_ morning we do this," she said in exasperation, grumbling more things under her breath as she sat up and moved to get out of bed, before she was suddenly pulled back down into Austin's arms, a firm pout on his face.

"I know. And I'll keep at it until you're okay with it," he said stubbornly, pulling her into his chest.

Ally let out a vague huff of protest, but relaxed in his arms and shuffled in closer, despite her grumbling. "You're lucky you're cute," she said murderously.

Personally, Austin thought _she_ was lucky that he happened to find her grumpy-pants attitude every morning incredibly adorable, especially considering how cheerful she normally was during the rest of the day. Instead of dignifying her grumpiness with a response, Austin simply pulled back slightly and cupped her cheek, running his thumb over her lips affectionately, and gave her a charming smile, complete with the bat of his eyelashes.

"Put your face away, Moon. You're only allowed to use that thing twice a week," she grumbled, biting her lip in her efforts not to smile.

"That's so unfair. I can't help it if I have a face that makes you forgive me instantly."

"Beauty fades, love," she countered. "Enjoy it while you can."

Austin's jaw dropped in mock shock. "That's so untrue, Ally."

"How so?" She challenged, raising an eyebrow in a manner that was way too seductive for someone with such bad morning breath.

"Because _I_ happen to think that you could be _hideous_ , but every time you give me the puppy dog eyes, I would still fall for them, because the eyes are the window to the _soul_. And the beauty in your soul doesn't fade," he announced dramatically, in a pompous tone.

Ally rolled her eyes and swatted him with a fond smile. "You're such a dork."

Austin grinned. "Love you too, Als."

* * *

The bell at the front of the coffee shop door jingled as the front door swung open, revealing a smug-looking blond and a peeved-looking brunette as they entered the café. Austin practically skipped over to a comfy-looking booth and Ally plodded after him with a mildly annoyed expression, before she sank down into the spot beside him. His arm automatically draped over her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

"Aw, don't be grumpy," Austin teased, turning his head to grin down at her.

Ally rolled her eyes and put her hand to his face, pushing it away. "You totally cheated."

"Did not!" He protested, grabbing her hand and pulling it into his lap so that she couldn't push his face anymore. "You're just a sore loser."

"Yeah – well – you know that you're faster than me! This whole thing was _rigged_."

"C'mon, Ally, it's just one coffee," he laughed.

"One coffee that you _cheated_ me out of," she grumbled.

"You're just mad you lost the bet."

"It was a dumb bet," she snipped back.

Austin smirked and settled down comfortably into the booth. "You agreed to the bet," he sang smugly.

"You came _up_ with the bet. I mean, not only do you _know_ that you can run faster than me, but you also have longer legs than me _and_ you're not wearing heels."

He held his hands up in surrender. "Peace, dear one," he joked, tapping her on the nose. "A deal is a deal. I bet that I could beat you to the coffee shop, you said loser buys the winner coffee. Pay up, Dawson."

Ally groaned and pouted at him, but he simply gave her a smug look, letting her know that he wasn't going to give in. With a resigned sigh, Ally stood and waddled over to the counter. He watched with a bemused expression as she grumpily took out her wallet – she was still using the new, white wallet from the afterparty after his last concert – and bought Austin his coffee, before returning to him with a little number on a stick.

"You literally just had a nationwide tour with an album that made _millions_ , and you're making me pay for your coffee," she huffed, sitting down beside him.

Austin rolled his eyes. "What about you? This is – what – the fifteenth album you've helped write?"

"…Sixteenth," she muttered.

"Sixteenth," he laughed, ruffling her hair with a hand. "And we all know songwriters make _more_."

Ally let out a discontented grumble, but the way she cuddled into his side spoke a completely different story. He threw her a smug look, complete with a suggestive eyebrow waggle, and she rolled her eyes before swatting him lightly in the chest, her palm smoothing over the area she had just hit as though to heal it.

"You know, you're really freaking cute," Austin laughed, affectionately rubbing her arm with his thumb.

"I know, you tell me all the time," she teased, her grumpiness now dissipated as she let out a content sigh and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I've noticed that you don't tell me very often that _I'm_ adorable," he pointed out, pouting at her.

Ally turned her face and rested her chin on his shoulder, her eyes sparkling in an impossibly coquettish way that made his heart stutter and think that maybe she was too adorable to even notice other people being adorable.

"You're _very_ adorable," she said flirtatiously. "So adorable, in fact, that if I was to tell you every time I thought you were being adorable, your ego would overinflate and explode." She made a little finger gun and clicked it at him before winking.

Once again, Austin's heart stuttered. He resisted the urge to remind her that she was adorable.

"Oh, trust me, that's not going to happen any time soon."

"No, no. Your ego is already filled with so much hot air that I just can't risk it. Besides," she added with a coy smile, her chin still resting on his shoulder and her eyes sparkling with flirtatious intent. "I would have thought you'd prefer a more _manly_ compliment, like _sexy_ or _hot_ or – or – um –" she broke off, her eyes widening as she attempted to come up with a third 'manly' compliment.

Austin chuckled. "…or?" He prompted, smirking at her.

"Or – um – a really great dancer?" She squeaked, before her eyebrows furrowed together and she looked confused. "Wait, that's not a very manly compliment."

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me," he laughed, cupping her jaw with his hand and pulling her lips to his. Ally responded immediately, her hands sliding up his chest and resting on his shoulders, seemingly content to kiss him despite the weird angle they sat at.

The couple was so wrapped up in one another that they didn't even notice two cups of coffee being placed on the table before them, slowly growing cold as they kissed and teased each other throughout the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

"That's officially the last box," Ally declared, wiping her hands on her jeans as she emerged from the guest bedroom. "We are _ready_ to part-ay."

Just before Austin had left on his tour, he and Ally had bought a house in Miami. (She took credit for the idea, but it was Austin who had suggested it. He didn't mind letting her take credit.) It wasn't too far from where either of their parents lived, and they had gotten all of their things shipped over from their apartment in New York just before they had left. The last show of his tour had been in Miami, so the couple had been able to return to their new house that night, and since then, had steadily been unpacking all of their boxes.

"Is a housewarming party _really_ plausible when we've _technically_ owned this house for, like, four months?" Austin asked casually, wanting to see her genuine opinion.

Ally tutted. "Yes, especially considering we've only been officially moved in for a week – Mr _Nationwide Tour_. I think it's fine. Besides," she added with a toothy grin, "Dez and Carrie believed it, and they're the only ones who think that it's a housewarming party."

"Mhm, alright," he laughed, sitting up from where he was sprawled on the couch. "And you're sure they still think it's a housewarming party? They have no idea that it's a – uh – surprise baby shower?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

His girlfriend nodded happily, brown curls bobbing around her face. "They have _no_ idea."

"They're not the only ones," Austin muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Ally asked, glancing up.

"Uh – um – why don't you join me?" He spluttered, patting the spot on the couch beside him. "You've been cleaning all day. Give your feet a rest," he suggested. "C'mon, I'll even rub them for you."

Ally threw him a suspicious glance, but she complied and sat down with her back to the armrest, her feet in his lap. Austin gave her a small smile and gently pulled her socks off of her feet, before pressing his thumbs against the arch of her foot. Her toes wriggled for a moment before they relaxed, and she placed her hands neatly in her lap.

"You know," Ally said suddenly, tilting her head curiously at him. "It was really nice of you to come up with a surprise baby shower for Dez and Carrie."

"Mm," he hummed dismissively, his tongue peeking out between his lips in concentration as he gently circled his thumbs against the underside of her feet. "You saw how offended he was that I didn't throw him a surprise engagement party. It's the least I could do."

"So, it's not _really_ a surprise if Dez is expecting you to throw a surprise party, is it?" She teased, quirking an eyebrow. "Mm, wait, go back, that felt really nice," she said, reaching down to grab his hands and move them back to where they were.

Austin chuckled and complied easily, before he shrugged. "It's definitely a surprise," he smirked.

The truth was, the party _was_ a surprise. Perhaps not to Dez and Carrie – after all, _they_ had helped him organise and plan this, even offering Carrie's baby bump as an excuse to throw a party – but definitely to Ally. She had no idea what the _real_ party was for…

" _Definitely_ a surprise," he mused thoughtfully, throwing her another cheeky grin.

"I know. You _just_ said that," Ally said, giving him a suspicious look. "You're being weird."

"No I'm not," he said quickly. " _You_ are."

"You seem way too excited for the party," she said, her lips pursed. "I mean, I'm pretty excited too, but it seems like you're hiding something. What's this _really_ about?"

"Nothing, you're just paranoid," he said gruffly.

Ally opened her mouth to argue, her eyes lighting up with amusement, but Austin gave her a shove and pushed her off the couch before she could say anything. Once more, her mouth opened – presumably to protest – but Austin swung himself off the couch and put a knee on either side of her, before leaning down and kissing her.

Her protests were swallowed by his mouth, as he kissed her ardently, hoping that she would drop the topic and wouldn't press the issue. Austin knew that if she continued to question him in regards to the party, she would find out the _real_ reason they were throwing it, and then his entire surprise would be ruined. Luckily for him, Ally seemed perfectly content to lie beneath him, with her hair fanned out and her lips fused to his, and any questions that she had were clearly forgotten as he kissed her into oblivion.

He _really_ liked that he had that effect on her.

Austin couldn't help but smirk as her hands latched onto his hips, tugging at them until he was no longer kneeling and bent at an awkward angle above her, but instead hovering over her with his whole body covering hers. She was just so _small_ that sometimes he couldn't help but worry that he would break her, that the sheer force of how much he loved her would snap her in two. But Ally was strong, and as her hands finally managed to pull his hips close enough to hers to hook those impossibly long legs of hers over them with a content sigh, he was reassured that breaking her was unlikely.

Despite the fact that he had originally kissed her to shut her up and distract her, he found himself unable to detach his lips from hers. Ally had always been an addiction of his, something about the way her body moulded to his and the sensation of her smooth skin beneath his fingertips that always drove him maddeningly insane in the most infuriatingly pleasing way. He rested his arms on either side of her head, his fingers threading through the hair that was strewn like a halo around her head. His lips felt almost rough against hers, and without much more thought, he pulled away and kissed down the side of her neck.

"Woah, hey, slow down there," Ally giggled, one of her arms wrapped around his waist and one of her hands tangled in his hair. "Someone's eager."

"Only when it comes to you," he murmured, grazing his teeth against the junction where her neck met her shoulder.

"Well, that's – _mm_ – good, because -"

 _Brring. Brring._

"Goddammit," Austin muttered, his face dropping to her neck as he let out a groan of frustration.

 _Brring. Brring._

"We should answer that," Ally giggled, petting his hair. She threaded her fingers through his hair, her fingertips grasping the longer locks before releasing and gently massaging his scalp.

 _Brring. Brring._

"It's probably just Dez," Austin argued, placing open-mouthed kisses up and down her neck.

 _Brring. Brring._

"Whoever it is, they're being quite patient. C'mon, Austin, we gotta answer the phone," she laughed, placing her palms against his chest and gently pushing him. With another frustrated groan, Austin rolled off of her and watched dolefully as his girlfriend stood and walked away to answer the phone, her hips swaying in the most infuriatingly enticingly way possible.

When she returned, phone in hand and a bored expression on her face as whoever she was talking to rambled, she raised an eyebrow at him, since he hadn't moved from his position on the floor. Austin pouted at her, pointedly running a hand through his messed up hair.

' _Later_ ,' she mouthed.

Austin smirked. Not only had he managed to distract her from almost figuring out the real reason for the party, but it seemed to him that he would be rewarded for his distracting powers fairly soon.

* * *

The backyard was finally set up to Austin's tastes, and Ally was still setting up inside, oblivious to what he had been doing in the backyard. He had told her that he was going to water the plants and tidy up the hedges, and she had wrinkled her nose and gone ' _ew, physical work_ ,' leaving him to it. A few times, he had seen her look out the window curiously – he had a feeling that she was trying to get a glimpse of him working in his shirtless glory, but he had been careful to keep his shirt on so that she would grow disinterested and continue working. He tried his very best to look unsexy and unappealing so that she wouldn't watch him – he _really_ couldn't have her see what he was doing. Luckily, she had stopped peeking through the blinds after the first few minutes, having decided that he was either too boring to watch, or realised that she really did need to finish setting up the inside of the house for the party.

A circular table with a white tablecloth sat in the centre of their garden, decorated with tea light candles, and two of their chairs facing one another. He had put up a little sign beside it that had the name of the café where they had first met scrawled across it in his messy handwriting, and he had set up fairy lights around the garden and fence. Austin had considered renting a booth to imitate the style of the café, but he had realised that that was far too extravagant for somebody like Ally, and while he had the money to do that, he didn't want to squander it on unnecessary purchases.

All that remained for him to do was find a way to get Ally out of the house so that he could shower and get ready for the party tonight without worrying about her looking outside again and seeing what he had done. He had thought far enough to close all the blinds before he had started working outside, and the large curtain that covered the sliding door was also closed, so when he stepped back inside he awkwardly danced with the curtain and the door before he managed to get inside, close the door, and disentangle himself from the curtain.

"Aus?" Ally called suspiciously, having heard the commotion. She walked down the stairs, half-ready for the party with her hair and make-up done, but still in her pyjamas.

"Yeah, it's just me," he confirmed smiling at her as she entered the kitchen, where he still stood by the door that led to the backyard.

"Are you finished in the backyard?" She asked, resting her elbows on the counter and propping her face in one of her hands, watching him as he moved around the kitchen.

"Yeah, I just gotta shower and get dressed before everyone gets here," he said, opening the fridge. "Ooh, salmon!" He exclaimed, reaching for the glass dish.

"Austin!" Ally exclaimed. "Don't touch that! You know it's for the party tonight."

He turned and pouted at her, but apparently his puppy dog eyes weren't good enough. With a small sigh, he turned back to the fridge and looking in it contemplatively. He looked at the carton of milk, and a small plan formed in his head. Lifting the half-full bottle, Austin made a face.

"It's empty," he lied, pouting at her. "Can you go out to the store and buy some milk?"

"The party starts in an hour, Austin. Can't this wait until then?" She sighed, standing up straight and pouting right back at him, looking impossibly adorable with her hair and make-up styled to perfection, but her pyjamas being cute and unicorn-themed.

"What if we wanna offer our guests tea or coffee or something?" He argued, setting down the carton on the counter and hoping she wouldn't lift it – she would realise that it was half-full if she did that. He moved to stand in front of her, putting an arm on either side of her and leaning on the counter to cage her in. She turned to face him, her back to the counter.

"Why don't _you_ just go get the milk?" She grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting.

"Because _you're_ almost ready," he pointed out. "And _I_ have to get ready."

Ally threw her head back and groaned exaggeratedly, before she sighed, a hand dramatically draped over her forehead. "Fine, I'll go get the milk."

Austin smirked. _Success_. Before he moved away and let her leave, his eyes lingered on the exposed column of her throat. A few minutes wouldn't hurt his plan, right? With a suggestive smile, he tilted his face towards her neck and pressed an open mouthed kiss against her skin. Ally let out a surprised squeak but relaxed immediately.

"Didn't you want me to go get the milk?" She asked quietly, gulping heavily as he delicately skimmed his lips down her throat.

"I think that can wait a few minutes," he murmured, pressing her more firmly against the counter as his lips fell to her collarbone and began to pepper kisses along it.

"Austin, c'mon, don't be like that," she laughed, placing her palms flat against his chest and pushing him lightly.

He relented and took a step back, holding his hands up in surrender and giving her a small smile. "Fine, fine. Go on, get that cute little butt of yours to the store," he said, making shooing gestures at her.

"I'm going, I'm going. Geez, you're the one who held _me_ up," she said pointedly, poking her tongue out at him before she scuttled upstairs to get dressed.

Austin followed her, hot on her heels, and sat down on their bed as she rifled through their closet. She pulled out a dress – it was one of those pretty, multi-coloured ones that clung to her body and drove him _absolutely_ insane – and turned around, her hands on her hips. Austin cocked an eyebrow and motioned to the dress.

"Don't be shy, you can get dressed in front of me."

Ally rolled her eyes with a smile and grabbed his hands, pulling him off the bed and pushing him out the door. "Go shower, you perv."

"Will you join me?" He called through the door, a goofy smirk on his face.

"I'm getting _milk_ ," she said, but he could hear her giggling.

"Next time, right?"

"Oh, shush. We'll have plenty of time to discuss this tonight," she said, opening the door and emerging, fully dressed. (Austin felt slightly disappointed, despite the fact that the dress looked amazing on her.

"Well, would you look at you," he teased, his hands settling on her hips and pulling her to him. "Setting the bar impossibly high. I'm supposed to bring the good looks into this relationship, you know?"

"Shh," she giggled, her cheeks colouring slightly as her hands settled on his shoulders. "You bring in plenty to this relationship."

"Nuh-uh. Good looks is _my_ thing. You have being _smart_ and _nice_ and _talented_ ," he whined, a goofy smirk tugging at his lips.

Ally smiled and pecked him on the lips. "I'll be back soon, okay? Stay pretty," she teased, tapping him on the nose.

"Ally, wait," he said, grabbing her wrist.

"Hm?"

"Love you," he said cheekily, throwing her a winning smile.

Ally's eyes softened. "I love you, too," she said, turning on her heel to kiss his cheek.

He wiped away the lipstick smudge she had left on his cheek with a small smile, watching her as she left, before he went to shower. Mentally, he ran over everything he needed for the night. He had set up the backyard, he had gotten Ally out of the house, and he had given Trish the house keys so that she could get everything set up inside while he was entertaining Ally outside.

And, of course, there was the small matter of the _ring_ hidden in a very specific place…

A sudden rush of nervousness flooded through him. What if he was being _too_ sappy? Would Ally laugh at him at his valiant attempts to give her the romantic proposal he knew she always dreamed of? Trish had refused to tell him what they had always imagined when they were kids – she had said that his proposal would be special because _he_ had thought of it, not because it was what Ally had always imagined. Austin had hated that he agreed.

Then, Dez had helped him. His red-haired friend had asked what was something special to both of them, something that could be romantic. Austin had answered, without a doubt, that the coffee shop was a special place for them. His friend had simply smirked and raised an eyebrow, before whispering _'the love whisperer_ ', to which Austin had promptly responded _'nobody calls you that'_.

In fact, the party that they were hosting that very evening wasn't a baby shower. Dez and Carrie had agreed to let Austin throw them a fake surprise baby shower so that Ally wouldn't realise that it was actually a surprise _engagement_ shower for the two of them. He was confident that she would say 'yes'.

But… what if she said no?

All his friends knew what his plans for the evening were.

If she rejected him, they would all know.

He would be a laughing stock.

Would Ally laugh at him?

Suddenly, Austin found it hard to breathe. He cleared his throat and hit his chest with his hand, trying to regain composure – control, even. He knew that Ally loved him just as much as he loved her, and he knew that she wanted marriage. It was something they had discussed on multiple occasions, vague promises that one – _one day_ – they would have a big white wedding. An engagement was something that she had all but agreed to already, with whispered promises at three in the morning, or presumptuous comments of how their future child would _not_ be allowed to have pancakes for breakfast every morning. He knew that she wanted this – wanted _him_. With all the 'yes', why was he worried that she would say 'no'?

He figured that he was freaking out over nothing. Austin stepped out of the shower and dried himself off before rummaging through his wardrobe to find something appropriate to wear. A suit? Too fancy. A t-shirt? Too casual. His eyes fell upon the dark blue button-down he had worn on their first date, contemplating it before he shook his head. Too cliché. The moment had to be _perfect_ – nothing could go wrong.

What if she said 'yes', but he stuffed up the proposal?

She would giggle, roll her eyes at him, and tell him he was an idiot.

His heart would soar because she had said 'yes', but it would sink because it hadn't gone as planned.

Austin shook his head, before he decisively grabbed a light purple button-down. It matched Ally's dress. Moments later, he stood in front of the mirror, inspecting himself from every possible angle. Finally, he was satisfied with his appearance, and slunk down to the kitchen to make a cappuccino – skim milk, no sugar. That was Ally's favourite, and he could remember warm Monday mornings where she would bounce into the coffee shop, order a medium cappuccino with skim milk and no sugar – and of course, there was the chocolate chip muffin that she would order almost every day for breakfast. She would turn around and smile at him, where he already sat, waiting for her to join him. Of course, once they had started living together, they would go down together, until they fell into a routine where Ally would bounce into the coffee shop, sit down in their favourite booth, and Austin would place their orders.

He smiled. Hopefully, the coffee wouldn't be cold by the time she got back. That sent another rush of panic through him – what if the coffee was cold by the time she was back? What if he made the coffee wrong? What if she came home before the coffee was even finished brewing? What if he spilled the coffee all over that pretty dress she was wearing?

 _Calm down, Moon,_ his inner voice reprimanded. Austin chose to ignore it, instead anxiously looking between the pot of coffee and the clock on the wall. He loosened his tie – were the walls closing in on him? Before he knew it, the coffee was done, and he had made the cappuccino, and he quickly walked outside to set it on the table. He walked around the backyard, trying to figure out what it was that he had forgotten, before it suddenly hit him. _The ring_. He had forgotten the ring!

Without another thought, he turned back into the house and made his way up to the guest bedroom as quickly as possible. He knew that Ally rarely checked the guest bedroom, except to vacuum and dust occasionally, so he had figured it was the best place to hide it. He practically ripped open the drawer that he had hid the ring in – or, at least, he had _thought_ the ring was there.

"Austin, I'm home!"

" _Shit_ ," he swore under his breath. "Uh – c-coming!" He called, awkwardly rifling through the other drawers. Where had he put it?

"Wha—hey! You lied!" Ally called from the kitchen, sounding peeved. "We have, like, half a carton of milk left! Why did you make me go to the store?"

" _Fuck_ ," he swore again, turning to the bedside table, and tearing the drawer open.

"Austin?" She sounded concerned. "Are you alright?"

"J-Just peachy!" He called back, shutting that drawer and opening the next one.

His gaze fell to a well-worn wallet, the very same plain, black wallet that he had been sitting on, on that fateful day that he had met Ally.

"You don't _sound_ peachy," she argued. Her voice sounded closer, and he could hear the distinct clacking of her shoes on the staircase.

Austin's grin widened almost manically, and he grabbed Ally's old wallet, stuffing it into his back pocket, despite the fact that it was a woman's wallet, and half of it stuck out the top. She hadn't used that black wallet for a while now, instead opting to use the prettier, fancier wallets that Trish often gave to her for promotion reasons – which made it the perfect hiding place for the ring.

"Aus? Where are you?"

His manic grin dropped, and he whipped around quickly. She would get suspicious if he was in the guest bedroom, so he bolted out of there.

" _Ooft_ ," Ally exclaimed, her eyes widening with surprise as he ran straight into her, and they both tumbled to the ground.

"Ow," Austin winced, rubbing his chest. He lay hovering over Ally, his breathing erratic and the wallet still sticking out of his back pocket in a ridiculous manner.

Ally looked surprised, her wide brown eyes fixated on his as she tried to process what had just happened. Her hands settled on his biceps, braced on either side of her head, and her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink at their new position. "Oh. Hi," she murmured, biting her lip shyly. "I thought we were going to continue this _later_ tonight."

It was Austin's turn to look embarrassed. "S-sorry," he said to her, standing and offering her his hand. "That was – that was an accident. Oh, god, it's going all wrong!" He wailed.

"What's going all wrong?" Ally asked, smoothing out her dress before looking back at him with concern in her eyes.

Those _damn_ eyes. They were always so wide, so full of emotion. Whenever he looked into those doe eyes of hers, he felt like he was reading a novel. There was always so much emotion in Ally's eyes that sometimes it was hard to discern which emotion he was supposed to notice. Concern shone through, though, and it soothed the ache in his heart a little bit – he was freaking out over nothing. She wouldn't say 'no'. But… but…

But what if she _did_ say 'no'?!

"The thing! The party! I don't know! It's going wrong!" He wailed again, looking very distressed.

Amusement flashed in Ally's eyes very briefly before she very carefully schooled her features back into a neutral expression, and placed a hand on his cheek. "Hey, it's just a party, Austin. Okay?"

"But – but what if the surprise is _ruined_?! What if it goes _wrong_?" He placed his hand over hers on his cheek, closing his eyes briefly, before opening them again and pouting at her.

Ally pursed her lips, before her spare hand found his and gave it a small squeeze. "I think you need some air," she decided, lacing her fingers through his and gently guiding him towards the stairs. Somehow, she managed to walk backwards down the stairs as she carefully tugged him towards the backyard.

"W-Wait!" He exclaimed, eyebrows snapping up in alarm. She couldn't take him to the backyard – that was where everything was set up!

"It's okay," Ally laughed, pausing in the kitchen, her back to the door that led outside. She tipped her head to the side, puzzled. "This is about more than just the party, isn't it?"

Austin's eyes widened even more in distress. What could he say without blatantly lying? Without wasting another second, he closed the distance between them and glued his lips to hers. Ally let out a muffled squeak of surprise, her hands hesitantly wrapping around his neck. He could sense hesitance in her response, before she relaxed slightly and kissed him back sweetly. Her kiss soothed him, stamped out the smouldering fire of panic, and his arms circled her waist, pulling her towards him as he kissed her lazily.

"Thanks," he murmured, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers.

Ally smiled, and patted his cheek. "Do you feel better now?"

"A little," he admitted, gulping quietly.

"Do you still wanna go outside for some air? I mean, I have to heat up the food tonight, but that can wait until you feel better. Let's just go outside and sit for a little while, okay?"

It seemed as though he had the perfect opportunity to get her outside without seeming suspicious. With a small smile and a slight nod, he walked her backwards to the door. "Yeah. Sounds good," he said, sliding the door open with one hand, the other still wrapped firmly around her waist and his eyes still boring into hers.

Ally didn't seem bothered by the way he gently guided her outside, seeming to trust him to navigate her. Her hands slid down the front of his chest before they wrapped around his waist, smiling up at him as they stepped outside, pausing just outside the door. Austin smiled at her, cupping her cheek with one hand and affectionately running his thumb across her lips, before he replaced his thumb with his lips in a chaste kiss.

"How long have we known each other, Ally?" He asked her quietly, leaning his forehead against hers again.

"Mm… Almost three years," she mused thoughtfully. She grinned. "Feels like longer."

"Two years, seven months, and six days."

"What?"

"That's how long we've known each other for."

Ally looked touched. "You remember it to the day?"

"I worked it out this morning," he admitted sheepishly.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, tipping her head to the side quizzically.

Austin shrugged. "I wanted to do something special for you. You deserve something special."

The brunette bit her lip and gave him a bashful smile. "That's very sweet."

He rubbed his nose against hers, a smile tugging at his lips at her giggle. "I have a surprise for you."

"Is that what you were working on in the backyard?" She asked curiously. "Because when you didn't take off your shirt, I kinda figured you were trying to make me stop looking outside – I thought you must be trying to surprise me with something, so I stopped looking out the window."

Austin's jaw dropped. "You _knew_? I sent you to get milk for _nothing_?"

Ally shrugged. "I didn't know until just then when you confirmed it. It was more of a _suspicion_ ," she said cheekily. "All I know is that you're planning something, and it's probably cheesy and romantic, but I'm definitely going to love it. You always seem to know what I like," she added, punching his chest playfully.

A relieved smile spread across his face, and he cleared his throat, feeling much better. "Then I suppose I can cut the sappy speech and just show you," he decided, placing his hands on her hips with a coy smirk, and gently turned her around.

His hands slid from her hips, pressing flat against her stomach, and pulled her backwards into his chest. Austin rested his chin on her shoulder, his fingers tightening against her stomach anxiously as she took in the view. The sun sat low on the horizon, orange light washing over the fairy lights that twinkled along the fence and bushes. Some of the tea light candles had blown out, but most of them were still lit, adorning the circular table in the middle of the backyard – but most importantly, the handwritten sign with the name of the café was still perfectly intact beside the table, and the cup of cappuccino sat proudly in the centre of the table.

" _Austin_ ," she breathed. "It's… This is… I –"

He turned his face, his cheek now resting on her shoulder. He watched as her eyelids fluttered, close enough to count each long lash, and her lips stretched into a happy grin. He pressed a lazy kiss to her cheek and then nuzzled his nose against the side of her neck.

"Do you like it?" He whispered in her ear.

Ally nodded, seemingly unable to form coherent words. He took her hand and pulled her to the table. He pulled out a chair for her to sit down, and she gave him a goofy grin before curtsying in an exaggerated manner, and settled into her chair. Austin shook his head with a smile as he sat opposite to her.

"You're adorable."

Her cheeks coloured, although it was hard to see it in the gathering darkness. The setting sun cast a glow to her cheeks, shadows dimpling across her collarbones and cheekbones, dancing across her skin enticingly. Austin wished it was his fingers dancing across her skin, not the shadows, but he refrained. They would have the rest of their lives for him to do that later.

"What's all this _for_?" She asked in wonder, looking adorably confused.

"Guess."

"Um… You... You have bad news, so you wanted to make me happy before breaking it?" She suggested.

Austin snorted. "No, no. It's good, I promise."

Ally grinned. "You got a promotion!"

"Uh… Not quite."

"You… you got us a pug? Is there a pug somewhere? Austin, did you buy us a pug? Oh my god, I love pugs. Is there a pug hiding somewhere here? Here, puggyboo," she whistled, looking around excitedly.

Austin stifled another snort. "No, I didn't get us a pug – although, I know what I'm getting you for Christmas now," he joked. Internally, though, he was freaking out. Would she have liked it better if he had gotten her a pug and tied the ring to the hypothetical pug's collar?

But it was too late for doubts, now. With a quiet gulp, he pushed the cup of coffee towards her. "It is something we'd share, though," he mused.

Ally still looked confused, and mildly disappointed now that she knew she wasn't going to get a pug today. She took the coffee and took a sip, biting her lip with a smile. "Tastes good," she praised.

"You gotta pay for that," he said, raising his eyebrows. "You don't _really_ think they let you have coffee for free here, do you?" He teased, motioning to the makeshift sign.

She pouted. " _Austin_ ," she whined.

With another quiet gulp, trying to calm his hammering nerves, Austin reached into his back pocket and pulled out the well-worn, plain black wallet that Ally used to use. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she stared at it. One look at her face told Austin that she was trying to figure out what he was doing, and was frustrated that she couldn't figure it out.

"I have a very specific payment method in mind," he said, wetting his lips.

Ally tipped her head to the side, puzzled.

"Ally… do you have any idea how much I love you?"

Her eyes lit up and her cheeks puffed out in a happy smile. "Mmhmm. Because it's how much _I_ love _you_ ," she sang in a pretentious tone.

"I… fuck," he laughed, running a hand through his hair, still clutching the wallet tightly. "I feel like I have a lot to owe this wallet," he said, waving it about frantically. "I mean… this is the reason we met."

"I remember," she said warmly, reaching across the table and taking his free hand between hers. "That's the only reason why I haven't thrown it out yet," she admitted shyly.

Austin's heart stuttered in his chest. "Do you remember what you said to me? The day we met?"

"' _Can I have my wallet?_ '" She quoted herself, biting her lip in an effort to stifle her wide smile.

He shook his head. "Not that bit. A different bit. When you were lecturing me."

"Uh… ' _What makes you think women can be sorted into types_?'" She guessed.

Once more, he shook his head. "' _How would you know that I'm not your type_?'" he quoted quietly. He could remember each word she had said. " _'I could be your type_.'"

Ally smiled. "I guess I was your type, then," she teased.

Austin lifted the wallet contemplatively, thumb tracing over the coin pouch, where he had hidden the ring. "I guess so too. But maybe you're not my type."

"Uh..."

"Fuck! Wait! I didn't mean it like that!" He exclaimed, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise again. "I – I meant – fuck – I meant – maybe – maybe 'my type' is _you_. B-because, y'know, it never felt… _right_ with anyone else. I could never imagine a future with anyone else."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "Your type is me, but I'm not your type? Austin, that doesn't make sense."

"No, I mean – fuck. I mean, like… like, you're the only person who I could ever… y'know, have, like, a future with. I could never – I could never imagine a future with anybody else. B-but, Ally… with you… with you, I can imagine a future. I – you make me want… I mean, we can… I'll _always_ have pickles," he blurted, before breaking off and looking confused. "Like, I mean, I'm always ready to give you a good pickle?"

There was silence, where Ally looked at him with wide eyes. The silence was broken when she snorted loudly, and she quickly covered her mouth with a hand. "Always ready to give me a good pickle, huh?"

It took Austin a moment to register her words, before his own eyes widened. "Y-You – y-you're _dirty_!" He spluttered, incredibly flustered.

Ally looked amused. "Aw, what's the matter, Aus? Got your pickle in a twist?"

"Ally!" He laughed, clapping a hand over his forehead, before he smirked. "Would you help me out if it was?"

"Like how?" She asked, resting her elbows on the table and leaning her face in the palms of her hands, her eyes twinkling.

"You like eating pickles, right?" He asked, voice dripping with flirtatious intent.

"A-Austin!" Her cheeks coloured, and she swatted at him. "Whatever. Go back to what you were saying before. Something about the future, you were talking about the future."

He smiled and bit his lip. "I was talking about _our_ future," he said, meeting her eyes. After their light-hearted teasing, he felt much better. It was as though their playful teasing had made things feel normal again, and he felt his usual confidence settling back in.

" _Our_ future?" She murmured, a hopeful smile sliding over her face.

"Mhm. We can wake up every morning to each other. We can start a family. You'd be one of those mothers with an endless supply of Tupperware, and I'd be the 'fun parent' who always gives the kids ice cream. We can grow old together. We could be… well, forgive me for quoting one of our songs, but… we could be _timeless_."

She gulped, her eyes widening and her smile struggling to grow even wider. "You really think about that kind of stuff?" Her tone was quiet, timid even. It was as though she found it hard to believe.

"Yeah. I do. Because of this wallet, this crappy, broken wallet, I have… everything. You helped me make my career dreams come true. And I'd really like it if you could help make all my other dreams come true, too."

"Like… like the family? With the Tupperware and ice cream?" She asked, her voice hushed.

"Yeah. Those dreams," he responded, meeting her eyes earnestly. "With the Tupperware and ice cream." He got up from his chair, moving to stand in front of her. "Ally, ask me that question again."

"Which question?" She asked, tilting her head up to look at him. She seemed suspicious, as though she knew what were about to happen but was too afraid to believe it.

"The one from when we first met."

"Oh," she said, her eyes glued to his, as though she were in trance, unable to look away. "C-Can… Can I have my wallet?" She whispered.

Austin dropped to one knee before her, and her breath hitched. "Yeah. You _do_ have to pay for the coffee, after all," he said cheekily, putting the wallet in her lap.

Ally gave him a suspicious glance, but he simply raised an eyebrow in challenge. Her nostrils flared – she was never one to back down from a challenge.

"Three dollars and ninety-eight cents," he said cheekily, tapping the coin compartment.

With another suspicious look, Ally unzipped the pouch. Her eyes bulged out of her head and she looked back up at him, as though waiting for confirmation that this wasn't a dream. Wordlessly, Austin took the ring out of the pouch and set the wallet back on the table.

"Ally," he breathed, taking her left hand and skimming his lips across her knuckles, his eyes fixed on her face. "Will you marry—"

He was unable to finish his question, because Ally had pushed him to the ground and was on top of him, her lips practically sewn to his. She was clumsily straddling him, her hands spreading across his chest as she tried to push herself as close to him as possible. She didn't seem to mind the fact that he was probably smudging her make-up, or that she was getting grass all over her, as her lips continued to attack his ravenously. She broke off, pressing sloppy kisses up and down Austin's neck, and he chuckled slightly.

"Ally," he laughed, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her into a sitting position. She continued to kiss his neck, nibbling and sucking in all the right places. "Ally," he repeated with another chuckle, sitting up with her still in his lap and her lips still attached to his neck, her tiny fingers working at his tie.

"Yes, yes, _yes_ ," she whimpered. " _Yes_."

Austin laughed and managed to pull her face away from his neck, before his hand found her left hand. "You sure?" He teased. "You sounded a little uncertain."

Ally swatted him with her free hand, her eyes trained on the ring between his forefinger and thumb. "Asshole," she muttered. "Of course I want to marry you."

Something about the way she said it so matter-of-factly, as though she were confirming that all his freaking out and nerves from before had just been silly made Austin feel a lot better, and he leaned forward to press one final, chaste kiss to her lips. "I love you," he said to her, eyes flicking down to her left hand as he slid the ring onto her finger. "Hah. Look at that. Perfect fit."

"I love it," she breathed, her eyes fixed on the ring, before they flickered up to meet his. "I mean – I mean, I love _you_ ," she added hastily. "But – but you're right. Perfect fit. It slid on so easily!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

Austin snickered. " _I slid it in lovingly_ ," he said slyly, smirking at her with raised eyebrows. "Slid in so perfectly. It fit so perfectly. Slid in _so easily_."

"Ew!" She laughed, swatting him again. "I'm here, trying to have a romantic moment with my _fiancé_ , and you're sitting here making dirty jokes."

" _Fiancé,_ " he repeated with wonder. "I'm your _fiancé_. And… and you're _my_ fiancée."

Ally blushed. "We're engaged," she said shyly, meeting her eyes.

"C'mon," he laughed, motioning she stand. "I have another surprise."

" _Another_ surprise?" She asked, her eyes wide as she stood and helped him up.

"Mhm. You didn't forget that we're having a _party_ tonight, did you?" He asked cheekily, and her eyes lit up even more, clearly excited to show off her shiny new ring to all their friends. He grabbed her hand following her inside.

The lights were off, which was a clear sign to Austin that everything was in place. He led Ally into the living room, which was also dark. He stood behind her, his hands on her hips, and flicked on the light.

" _Surprise_!" Their friends exclaimed, all jumping up from behind the couch.

Ally let out a surprised squeal, falling backwards into his chest. "B-But g-guys! You got it wrong! It's just me and Austin, not Dez and C—"

Dez appeared from behind them and tapped Ally on the shoulder. "Hah, joke's on you. The surprise party is for _you_ , not _us_."

Carrie nodded emphatically from beside her husband, her hand on her baby bump. "Happy engagement, Ally," she cheered.

This triggered all of their friends to surround the glowing couple, and Austin found himself pressed tightly against Ally as their friends hugged them tightly (not that he minded).

"Ally, we're _so_ happy for you," Trish exclaimed, her hand linked tightly through her boyfriend's hand. She shot a sneaky glance at Jace before looking back at Ally with a wink. "You have to tell me all about the _proposal_ later," she said, before casting another sneaky glance at Jace. "I love _proposals_."

Austin chuckled. He knew that Trish had been 'subtly' dropping hints to Jace that he should propose – but he also knew that the brunet had his own proposal in the preparation stages, and judging from the exasperated smile he threw his girlfriend, he was well aware that she wanted him to propose.

Before Ally could reply to Trish, one familiar face made their way over to them, through the crowd of their dancing friends.

"C-Cassidy?" Ally exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "Oh my god, it's been way too long!" She exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

Cassidy laughed and hugged her back, pulling Austin into the hug as well.

"Austin flew me out here," Cassidy exclaimed. "Als! You're _engaged_! I was always rooting for this loser," she said, slapping Austin's chest affectionately.

"I – I can't believe you're _here_! How is everyone? How's Elliot? How's Piper? Is she still dating Miles? I don't think I've spoken to you properly since before Austin's tour!"

The strawberry-blonde laughed again and shot Austin a sly smile. "Well, Elliot better be happy," she said, with a wink. "He finally grew the balls to ask me out, so I sure as hell hope he's happy. Piper and Miles are still dating, and they send their wishes. Actually, Piper wanted me to give you this," she said, looking through her purse before pulling out a small box.

"It's… an egg," Austin said, looking confused.

Ally smirked and looked at Carrie. "Carrie and Piper owed me an egg," she explained, with a mysterious smile.

Two years, seven months, and six days, and Austin _still_ didn't know what the fabled 'Ally always has eggs' comment was supposed to mean. He assumed that he would never learn the truth behind that story.

In any case, Austin was happy. He looked at the glowing girl beside him, refusing to leave her side all night, despite the many people that tried to whisk her away for a dance, insisting to Austin that he'd have many more chances to dance with her throughout their lives. His gaze constantly fell to the ring sitting on her left hand, gracing her delicate, tiny hand, before it flitted up to her smile, shining more brilliantly than the expensive diamond on the white-gold band.

When their guests had left, and only Austin and Ally remained dancing alone in the living room, he pulled her close. "I love you," he whispered into her hair, swaying her back and forth, despite the fact that the music was upbeat and fast-paced.

"I love you, too," she mumbled against his chest, before she tilted her head up and rubbed her nose fondly against his.

His fingers laced through hers, his smile growing as he felt the cool metal of the engagement ring against his skin. They continued to dance into the night until they fell into bed with a completely different kind of dance, and eventually fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning, with glowing smiles and vague ideas for wedding plans underway. As their breathing slowed and they cuddled into one another, neither Austin nor Ally remembered the plain black wallet and discarded cup of coffee that lay on the table of their makeshift café.

It didn't matter, though. Only good things seemed to happen when Ally accidentally forgot her wallet in the café.

* * *

 **Once again, thank you everybody for reading. To quote** _ **A Very Potter Sequel**_ **: "I don't wanna see you go, but it's not forever, not forever. Even if it was, you know that I would never let it get me down – 'cause you're the part of me that makes me better wherever I go. So, I will try, not to cry, and no one needs to say goodbye."**

 **Thank you all for your amazing reviews. You all constantly blow me away with your kind words and encouragement, and I just want you all to know how much it means to me. Thank you.**


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